One in the long line of Fela reissues to appear in recent years, this two-song excerpt from the 1978 Berlin Jazz Festival marks a pivotal point in the history of one of Africa's most influential and controversial musicians. Having risen to an unprecedented height of international renown for an African artist, Fela in 1978 teetered on the pinnacle of his political and musical journey. He had recently been banned from performing in Ghana after a riot broke out at a concert in Accra; and the year before, Nigerian soldiers had destroyed his self-declared independent state, the Kalakuta Republic, a violent raid that was also responsible for the death of his mother. Apart from being a giant leap back onto the international scene after more than a year of such tragedy, the show in Berlin provided Fela with much needed funds. The money from the Festival would later provide him with the financial backing for his campaign to become the President of Nigeria, a campaign that was quickly blocked by the Nigerian authorities. Thus, this recording stands as an aural snapshot of a moment of deep transition in Fela's career. The physical foundations of his musical empire had been jolted, and he was about to enter a new phase in which his music and his politics were more closely tied than ever before.

Lyrically, both songs on the disc are directed at the corruption of Nigerian authorities. In "V.I.P.," Fela criticizes Nigerian politicians for ignoring the poverty, hunger and unemployment of the people in favor of catering to whims of theft and talking nonsense. "Authority Stealing" compares petty street crime to the crimes of government officials, asserting that the criminal politicians receive no punishment for their acts, while the street criminals receive lengthy jail sentences. These songs touch on pieces of the major theme in Fela's work as a political musician. Like his counterparts in other African countries, his music is propelled by his criticisms of social institutions, most specifically his critiques of the Nigerian government itself. With this reissue of Fela's headlining performance at the Jazz Festival in Berlin, and indeed with each of the recent Fela reissues, the historical portrait of the father of afrobeat becomes clearer and his impact on the course of modern music and politics becomes ever more evident.

Hal Hixson is a musician and writer living in Columbus, Ohio. He can be reached at hixsonfour@yahoo.com