- country:Germany
- artist posted by:Mr Bongo
Growing up in Lagos Nigeria, Bukky was spotted
practising his first saxophone by the original Afro-
beat drummer Tony Allen. He was immediately
ushered into Tony’s newly formed band. Bukky
went on to play with the great Fela Kuti where the
seeds of Afro-beat were being sown. After
sometime in the band and under the influence of
Tony Allen, Bukky decided to follow his own
journey with his distinct style of Jazz and Afro-
beat.
In 1982, Bukky's path led him to London, where he
became one of the forerunners of the Acid-jazz
scene. A young A&R man called Giles Peterson
(Radio 1) signed him to the newly formed Acid Jazz
label. His first release ' Rejoice in Righteousness'
was at the heart of the Acid Jazz world. It went
straight to number one in the Rhythm and Blues,
Dance and Jazz charts. The follow up album 'River
Nile' led him to being nominated for the US African
Music Awards in New York. There he became
aquatinted with the legendary late tenor
saxophonist 'Joe Henderson' who invited Bukky to
his home in San Francisco.
Since the Acid-jazz days, he has remained loyal to
his goal of making ground-breaking Afro-centric
grooves. This led to the creation of the Source. The
band toured extensively and recorded a self-titled
album, featured on the club Africa 2 compilation on
Strut records. In the mid 90s, he embarked on the
definitive pilgrimage to Egypt where he laid down
the intellectual and musical foundations for the
formation of Black Egypt. The trip to Nile was an
eye opener for him.
After four years of developing their sound Black
Egypt have emerged as the most important Afro-
beat group outside Nigeria. Bukky is still in demand
as a World class Saxophonist. He is presently
touring with the African Jazz All Stars and Tony
Allen's Afro-Beat Big Band. The next chapter is this
collaboration with Ben Mitchell. Ben has produced
such artists as Terry Callier, Mr Hermano and Dusty
Springfield. They met while Ben was producing ‘The
Rapping With The Gods’ album with legendary
Brighton DJ Russ Dewbury. The album featured
Bukky on vocals and saxophone on the track 'Living
Am I living'. The result of this meeting you have in
your hand. Eighteen months of creativity
compressed into this self-titled album Black Eqypt
featuring some of the finest Afro-Beat and Jazz
musicians in the World…