Day by day
"Femi Kuti has had a remarkable career by any standard. He has also faced a bitter dose of reality. Shortly after [his father] Fela died in August 1997, Femi's younger sister, Sola, died of cancer. Five years later, on the heels of his two most successful records, Shoki Shoki and Fight to Win, Femi was sacked by his French record label, his band split up and his wife, Funke, a dancer and singer in his band and the mother of his 12-year-old son, Omrinmade ("Made"), left him.
To cap it all off, Femi's mother, Remi, with whom he was very close, died at the age of 60. As Femi spent time in France recording parts of Fight to Win, rumors swirled back home that he was in an asylum."
Bitter family rivalry developed between him and his half brother Seun, who started performing with some of their father's musicians as Egypt 80.
How did Femi get through the hard times? The saxophonist turned to the trumpet.
"The trumpet has really helped me become a calmer person and I really don't get that angry anymore," he says. “With the saxophone, you can leave it for a few weeks and come back, but you can't really do that with the trumpet. You must do it every day, and it has made me more disciplined in many ways. It has changed my life."
Link. There's a video there too about he making of Femi's latest album.
Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 are performing in NZ in March at Womad.
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