Mr. Big Mouth

In the mid-1970s Fela Kuti became embroiled in a bitter battle over unpaid advances with Decca West Africa, and although he kept releasing albums on Afrodisia many of them didn’t get much promotion or attention. Mr. Big Mouth is one of these: co-produced by Kuti, it is fronted by Afrika 70 trumpet player and soloist par excellence Tunde Williams, and its two extended tracks are a prime example of the brooding, dramatic Afrobeat that Kuti and his band were producing at this time. Williams sings the catchy refrain on “Mr Big Mouth,” where a restless sounding Kuti plays saxophone and organ, and picks up his trumpet for a spirited solo on “The Beginning.”