Antibalas Afro Beat Orchestra w/guests
Fri Oct 8, Neumo's, 9 pm, $13.50 adv./$15 DOS.

The 17 musicians who make up Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra owe everything to Fela Kuti, a Nigerian singer whose music was as big and relentless as the continent of Africa. And when it comes to Kuti (who died of AIDS in 1997), no word describes his spirit better than exuberant.

That exuberance now flows within the music of Antibalas, which was formed in 1998 and is based in Brooklyn. Antibalas' big sound is defined by horns that are brash and recklessly drunk; moments of calm that clear the way for an introspective keyboard solo; drum and conga beats that are as convoluted as the streets of Lagos; a society of background singers; and always an electric guitar whose rhythm hangs against this large, swirling mass of afro-pop like a picture of James Brown on the wall of a busy shabeen (an illegal bar).

The only thing missing on Antibalas' latest CD, Who Is This America?, is the physical presence of Kuti. But his spirit does well enough, particularly on the opening track, which shares its name with the CD's title. The single thing wrong with the song is that it's not long enough--it runs for 11 minutes when, to be faithful to Kuti, it should run at least 20. (The last track on the CD, "Sister," comes close with 19 minutes.) This is what exuberance is all about: stopping the music, the party, the dancing only when you have no more energy to expend and are in a state that brings total meaning to the expression "dead tired."

charles@thestranger.com