Gentleman cover

Gentleman

Released

“Gentleman” is one of Fela Kuti’s angriest and most masterful songs. Originally released in 1973, the lyrics decry African men who wear European clothing, in line with the cover image: a monkey’s head pasted onto a suit (likely worn by a child, as the clothes fall loosely in a pile). Musically, it’s a killer jazz-funk workout, with Kuti blowing a fierce, almost King Curtis-esque sax melody over electric piano, multiple guitars, a raucous horn section, and Tony Allen’s complex rhythms for the first nine minutes of its 14-minute running time. The two shorter tracks on the album’s flip side, “Fefe Naa Efe” and “Igbe,” are a looser, jazzier meditation and a taut, James Brown-style workout, respectively.

Phil Freeman

Recommended by

Suggestions
Below the Bassline cover

Below the Bassline

Ernest Ranglin
Mister Magic cover

Mister Magic

Grover Washington Jr.
Flood cover

Flood

Herbie Hancock
Hearsay cover

Hearsay

David Sanborn
A Go Go cover

A Go Go

John Scofield
History Gets Ahead of the Story cover

History Gets Ahead of the Story

Jeff Cosgrove, John Medeski, Jeff Lederer