Hail to the Chief!

Charlie Dark's African Beats Project- Contact Theatre, Manchester

140 words by Shakespeare himself would not do justice to Blacktronica pioneer Charlie Dark’s latest cross-over project. A heady brew of talking drums, chants, dance and conga wizardry from Richard Olatunde and the Nigerian Chief Udoh Essiet, part of the original Fela Kuti band in the 80s; the heavy afro-blues lines and FX pedal colourations of the mercurial Brit-jazz guitarist David Okumu; the Rhodes flavourings of Nu-Jazz legend and London DJ Mark de Clive-Lowe, all grooving along to Charlie Dark’s chunky electro-beats and bass-lines.

A masterful metamorphosis through jazzy hip-hop, highlife and muscular afro-beat, and although there was an urban sheen of London electro-edginess, the unpretentious West- African roots of the genre remained intact: In the end it was simply a case of standing up, saluting the chief and dancing. Stop writing.