KING SUNNY ADE
and his African Beats

all images © Chuck Bryant

 

During my hospital stays in 1983-84, my brother Kim sent me a cassette of King Sunny's Juju Music. Whooaa. I'd heard a pretty broad range of funky stuff, far more than most of my friends, but I hadn't ever heard anything quite like this. Sunny's slick slide style, synths, and (on stage here at Miami Beach's Cameo Theater) I think a total of 18 performers, maybe half of them percussionists. Rhythms kept piling up and always stayed clean, crisp, and very danceable.

(Pronounce "Ade" as ah-day.)