Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra

Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra is a Brooklyn, United States-based group formed in 1998. The band is also known as Antibalas. Its music is rooted in afrobeat and also draws on funk, jazz, psychedelic music, dub, improvised music, and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa.

Origins and style

Martín Perna founds the group in winter 1998 under the name Conjunto Antibalas, and the first concert follows in May of the next year. The band is modelled on Fela Kuti’s Africa 70 and Eddie Palmieri’s Harlem River Drive Orchestra. It starts with a core of eleven members and develops a repertoire of original songs.

Releases and activity

By summer 2000, the group releases its first album, Liberation Afrobeat Vol. 1, and tours England twice while continuing to perform at venues across New York City. By early 2002, it issues Talkatif and tours the United States. In 2004, the third studio album, Who is This America?, is released. The group releases music on Daptone Records.

Performances and associations

Antibalas opens for James Brown, No Doubt, Wyclef Jean and Trey Anastasio, among others, and appears at major rock venues including Irving Plaza in New York City. It also performs at numerous music festivals, plays block parties throughout New York City, and gives a performance for inmates at Rikers Island. The group is associated with progressive and radical causes.

Membership

The group includes Martin Perna, Duke Amayo, Fernando "Boogaloo" Velez, Amayo, Victor Axelrod, Marcus Farrar, Miles Francis, Reinaldo DeJesus, Morgan Price, Michael Pallas, Stuart Bogie, Binky Griptite, Michael Herbst, Timothy J Allen, Aaron Johnson, Raja Kassis, Chico Mann, Jordan McLean, Kevin Raczka, Todd Simon, Phil Ballman, Luke O’Malley and Del Stribling.

Name

The name Antibalas is a Spanish word meaning “bulletproof.”