Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 to go on North American tour

The tour, presented by Django Music, includes 18 dates, of which two performances – in Brooklyn, New York, and Chicago – will be free. They will join New Orleans-based brass ensemble The Soul Rebels as special guests in San Diego and Los Angeles, and open for Red Hot Chili Peppers in Toronto and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio.

On tour, the youngest son of Afrobeat icon Fela Kuti will play selected music from an extensive catalogue that perpetuates the genre pioneered by his father, fusing West African rhythms with American funk and jazz, all infused with socially conscious messages.

At 14, Seun Kuti assumed the band leadership of Egypt 80, with several members being part of Fela’s original line-up. In 2019, they earned a Grammy nomination for Black Times in the Best World Music Album category, though they were beaten by the Soweto Gospel Choir’s Freedom.

The last time the Nigerian band was in North America was in 2022 when they headlined The Independent in San Francisco.

Meanwhile, fellow Afrobeat apostles BANTU recently announced their European summer tour, starting with a nine-city itinerary in Germany and Switzerland from 31 May to 21 July.

Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 North America 2024 tour dates:

• 8 June: Burlington, VT – Burlington Discover Jazz Festival
• 9 June: Portland, ME – Portland House of Music
• 11 June: Pembroke, MA – Soundcheck Studios
• 12 June: Bridgeport, CT – Park City Music Hall
• 14 June: San Diego, CA – Music Box*
• 16 June: Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival*
• 12 July: North Adams, MA – Mass
• 13 July: Brooklyn, NY – Bric Celebrate Brooklyn
• 15 July: Chicago, IL – Millennium Park Summer Music Series
• 17 July: Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
• 18 July: San Francisco, CA – SFJAZZ Center Miner Auditorium
• 19 July: San Francisco, CA – SFJAZZ Center Miner Auditorium
• 20 July: Denver, CO – Levitt Pavillion
• 22 July: Cuyahoga Falls, OH – Blossom Music Center
• 23 July: Detroit, MI – The Shelter
• 24 July: Kalamazoo, MI – Bell's Eccentric Cafe
• 26 July: Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line
• 28 July: Nelsonville, OH – Nelsonville Music Festival

* Special guest for The Soul Rebels