Chopteeth
Encyclopedia
Chopteeth is a Washington, D.C.
- based afrofunk big-band. Although rooted in Fela Kuti
's Nigerian afrobeat
, Chopteeth's music is an amalgam of Ghanaian highlife
, Senegalese rumba
, Jamaican Ska
, Mande griot
music, 1970's West African funk, Ewe
dance drum rhythms, Kenyan Taita
afropop
, soul-funk, and jazz. Chopteeth's writing and arrangements feature unique driving syncopations, and occasional odd meters. Chopteeth vocalists sing in eight different languages including English, Nigerian Pidgin
, Swahili
, Wolof
, Mande
, Twi
, Taita, and French.
and the Pips, The Four Tops
, Cab Calloway
, Don Cherry
), trombonist Craig Constadine (Busta Rhymes
), trumpeter Justine Miller, Romanian guitarist Victor Crisen, Kenyan vocalist/dancer Anna Mwalagho, and Ghanaian music teacher David McDavitt (drums). In 2008 Ghanaian drummer Atta Addo joined Chopteeth on percussion.
The name "Chopteeth" comes from a song by Fela Kuti called "J'ehin J'ehin". It refers to someone who eats his own teeth, a crazy person. Percussionist Mark Corrales came up with that name for the band because he said they were insane to think they could sustain a large afrobeat band.
Chopteeth won several Wammies (Washington Area Music Awards
)presented by the Washington Area Music Association
(WAMA):
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
- based afrofunk big-band. Although rooted in Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
's Nigerian afrobeat
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
, Chopteeth's music is an amalgam of Ghanaian highlife
Highlife
Highlife is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920...
, Senegalese rumba
Soukous
Soukous is a dance music genre that originated in the two neighbouring countries of Belgian Congo and French Congo during the 1930s and early 1940s, and which has gained popularity throughout Africa...
, Jamaican Ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, Mande griot
Griot
A griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
music, 1970's West African funk, Ewe
Ewe music
Ewe music is the music of the Ewe people of West Africa. Instrumentation is primarily percussive and rhythmically the music features great metrical complexity. Its highest form is in dance music including a drum orchestra, but there are also work, play, and other songs. Despite his title Ewe music...
dance drum rhythms, Kenyan Taita
Taita (tribe)
The Taita people are a Kenyan ethnic group located in the Taita-Taveta District. They speak Kidawida which belongs to the Bantu languages. The West-Bantu moved to the area of the Taita-Taveta District first approximately in 1000-1300.The Taita people migrated to Kenya through Tanzania...
afropop
Afropop
Afropop or Afro-pop may refer to:*African popular music*Afropop Worldwide, a weekly radio program from Public Radio International...
, soul-funk, and jazz. Chopteeth's writing and arrangements feature unique driving syncopations, and occasional odd meters. Chopteeth vocalists sing in eight different languages including English, Nigerian Pidgin
Nigerian Pidgin
Nigerian Pidgin is an English-based pidgin and a creole language spoken as a lingua franca across Nigeria. The language is commonly referred to as "Pidgin" or "Brokin". It is often not considered a creole language since most speakers are not native speakers, although many children do learn it early...
, Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
, Wolof
Wolof language
Wolof is a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia, and Mauritania, and is the native language of the Wolof people. Like the neighbouring languages Serer and Fula, it belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger–Congo language family...
, Mande
Mande languages
The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé people and include Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Bissa, Dioula, Kagoro, Bozo, Mende, Susu, Yacouba, Vai, and Ligbi...
, Twi
Twi
Asante, or Ashanti, is one of three literary dialects of the Akan language of southern Ghana, and the prestige dialect of that language. It is spoken in and around Kumasi, the capital of the former Ashanti Empire and current subnational Asante Kingdom within Ghana.Along with the Akuapem dialect,...
, Taita, and French.
History
Founded in 2004 by Robert Fox (bass), ethnomusicologist Michael Shereikis (guitar & lead vocals), Jon Hoffschneider (keyboards), and bata drummer Mark Corrales (percussion), Chopteeth quickly attracted a stable line-up of musicians including saxophonist Mark Gilbert (Gladys KnightGladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...
and the Pips, The Four Tops
Four Tops
The Four Tops are an American vocal quartet, whose repertoire has included doo-wop, jazz, soul music, R&B, disco, adult contemporary, hard rock, and showtunes...
, Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
, Don Cherry
Don Cherry (jazz)
Donald Eugene Cherry was an innovative African-American jazz cornetist whose career began with a long association with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He went on to live in many parts of the world and work with a wide variety of musicians.-Biography:Cherry was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and...
), trombonist Craig Constadine (Busta Rhymes
Busta Rhymes
Trevor Tahiem Smith, Jr., better known by his stage name Busta Rhymes ,Smith is an American rapper, producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the alias Busta Rhymes after NFL wide receiver George "Buster" Rhymes...
), trumpeter Justine Miller, Romanian guitarist Victor Crisen, Kenyan vocalist/dancer Anna Mwalagho, and Ghanaian music teacher David McDavitt (drums). In 2008 Ghanaian drummer Atta Addo joined Chopteeth on percussion.
The name "Chopteeth" comes from a song by Fela Kuti called "J'ehin J'ehin". It refers to someone who eats his own teeth, a crazy person. Percussionist Mark Corrales came up with that name for the band because he said they were insane to think they could sustain a large afrobeat band.
Chopteeth won several Wammies (Washington Area Music Awards
Washington Area Music Awards
The Washington Area Music Awards are a music award for Washington, D.C. area performers, issued by the Washington Area Music Association . The awards are issued at an annual awards program....
)presented by the Washington Area Music Association
Washington Area Music Association
The Washington Area Music Association is a regional music industry not-for-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.. WAMA's activity centers around highlighting the area's cultural contribution by assisting regional musicians with becoming recognized on a national scale.The organization...
(WAMA):
- 2007 Best World Music Group
- 2008 Best World Music Duo/Group
- 2008 Best World Music Recording
- 2008 Best Debut Recording
- 2008 Artist of the Year
- 2009 Artist of the Year2009 Washington Area Music AwardsThe 2009 Washington Area Music Awards was the 23rd annual Wammies ceremony. The awards won are as follows:Artist of the Year: ChopteethMusician of the Year: Jon CarrollWAMA/SAW Songwriter of the Year: Jon CarrollAlbum of the Year: Dose, Billy Coulter...
- 2010 World Music Group
- 2010 World Music Recording
Band
- Michael Shereikis, guitar and vocals;
- Anna Mwalagho, vocals;
- Robert Fox, bass
- Craig Considine, trombone;
- Mark Gilbert, saxophones;
- Justine Miller, trumpet and vocals;
- Trevor Specht, saxophones and vocals;
- Cheryl Terwilliger, trumpet;
- Atta Addo, twinchin & djembe
- Mark Corrales, percussion;
- David McDavitt, drums;
- Brian Simms, keyboards;
- Jon Hoffschneider, keyboards;
- Victor Crisen, guitar;
Educational Sites Authored by Chopteeth
- The Afrofunk Forum Blog News, music reviews and commentary on Afrobeat and related music from Africa, The Caribbean and The Americas.
- Fela Kuti Lyrics transcribed by Chopteeth's David McDavitt
- A List of Afrobeat Bands Active Worldwide
Video
- Kennedy Center Millennium Stage Three Chopteeth concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
Recording Collaborations
- Sierra Leone's Refugee All StarsSierra Leone's Refugee All StarsSierra Leone's Refugee All Stars is a band from Sierra Leone which was formed by a group of refugees displaced to Guinea during the Sierra Leone Civil War. Since their return to Freetown in 2004, the band has toured extensively to raise awareness for humanitarian causes...
- Cheick Hamala DiabateCheick Hamala DiabatéCheick Hamala Diabate is a musician from Mali, West Africa who has been nominated for a Grammy award. Using Adelphi, Maryland as his home he travels all over the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, the United States Senate, and the Smithsonian...
(Malian griotGriotA griot or jeli is a West African storyteller. The griot delivers history as a poet, praise singer, and wandering musician. The griot is a repository of oral tradition. As such, they are sometimes also called bards...
, ngoniXalamXalam, also spelled khalam, is the Wolof name for a traditional stringed musical instrument from West Africa. The xalam is thought to have originated from modern-day Mali, but some believe that, in antiquity, the instrument may have originated from ancient Egypt...
master, Grammy nominee)
External links
See also
- AfrobeatAfrobeatAfrobeat is a combination of traditional Yoruba music, jazz, highlife, funk and chanted vocals, fused with percussion and vocal styles, popularised in Africa in the 1970s. Its main creator was the Nigerian multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Fela Kuti, who gave it its name, who used it to...
- Fela KutiFela KutiFela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
- Afrofunk
- Tony AllenTony Allen (musician)Tony Oladipo Allen is aNigerian drummer, composer, and songwriter who currently lives and works in Paris. He is currently writing his autobiography "Tony Allen: Master Drummer of Afrobeat" with author/musician Michael E...
- Cheick Hamala DiabateCheick Hamala DiabatéCheick Hamala Diabate is a musician from Mali, West Africa who has been nominated for a Grammy award. Using Adelphi, Maryland as his home he travels all over the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. He has performed at the Kennedy Center, the United States Senate, and the Smithsonian...