Funk was born again in Nigeria

Anyone familiar with Femi Kuti (or his daddy Fela 'the Great') would know that funk was reborn in Nigeria. So imagine Femi, coked to his eyeballs, driving his horn section like a mustang convertible - fist-in-the-air stuff! Such was I treated to last night at the Barbican - the 'African rebels tour.'

Also in the lineup an Algerian group called 'Akli D' (great north african music - a la 'radio tarifa'). But highlight for me was 'Ba Cissoko' - a group of Kora players from Guinea. Just amazing. Check 'em out here www.ba-cissoko.com (you can listen to album samples).

Someone warned me Africa would get under my skin..... moments like this I know they were right. Immersed in soaring rhythmes and cross-hatched melodies I remembered the many sublime moments in southern Africa, the hole it has left, and ways I could revisit it. Praise be to such transformative music.