Igo chico
Igo Chico (birth date unavailable) played
tenor saxophone for
Fela Kuti's
afrobeat entourage
Africa 70 during its formative period in the early
1970s.
He eventually left the band after a dispute with Kuti, who took up tenor saxophone himself to replace him.
Chico's swelling, lyrical, palm-wine-infused style greatly contrasted with Fela Kuti's more punctuated, machine-gun-like style on the instrument. His
solos throughout the band's early 70's recordings, whose performance credits are not well-documented with their modern digital
CD re-releases, are distinctly identifiable by those properties and by his growly
tone on the instrument.
Chico's most characteristic solo may be his performance in the tune "Monday Morning In Lagos" from the album
He Miss Road.
Another definitive solo appears in "It's No Possible (Ko Se Se)" from the same album.
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Interview with Cream dummer, occasional Africa 70 bandmate, and friend of Fela Kuti, Ginger Baker