The tour, presented byDjangoMusic, includes 18 dates, of which two performances – in Brooklyn, New York, and Chicago – will be free. They will join New Orleans-based brass ensemble The Soul Rebels as special guests in San Diego and Los Angeles, and open for Red Hot Chili Peppers in Toronto and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.
On tour, the youngest son of Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti will play selected music from an extensive catalogue that perpetuates the genre pioneered by his father, fusing West African rhythms with American funk and jazz, all infused with socially conscious messages.
At 14, Seun Kuti assumed the band leadership of Egypt 80, with several members being part of Fela’s original line-up. In 2019, they earned a Grammy nomination for Black Times in the Best World Music Album category, though they were beaten by the Soweto Gospel Choir’s Freedom.
The last time the Nigerian band was in North America was in 2022 when they headlined The Independent in San Francisco.
Meanwhile, fellow Afrobeat apostles BANTUrecently announced their European summer tour, starting with a nine-city itinerary in Germany and Switzerland from 31 May to 21 July.
Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 North America 2024 tour dates:
8 June: Burlington, VT – Burlington Discover Jazz Festival
9 June: Portland, ME – Portland House of Music
11 June: Pembroke, MA – Soundcheck Studios
12 June: Bridgeport, CT – Park City Music Hall
14 June: San Diego, CA – Music Box*
16 June: Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival*
12 July: North Adams, MA – Mass
13 July: Brooklyn, NY – Bric Celebrate Brooklyn
15 July: Chicago, IL – Millennium Park Summer Music Series
17 July: Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
18 July: San Francisco, CA – SFJAZZ Center Miner Auditorium
19 July: San Francisco, CA – SFJAZZ Center Miner Auditorium
20 July: Denver, CO – Levitt Pavillion
22 July: Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
23 July: Detroit, MI – The Shelter
24 July: Kalamazoo, MI – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe
26 July: Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
28 July: Nelsonville, OH – Nelsonville Music Festival
