Words by Tim Hakki @TimHakki
The Souljazz Orchestra’s latest song ‘Dog Eat Dog’ is balm to a heavy heart. Loaded with political sentiment (it features a spoken word commentary from Nigerian writer, activist and artist Mabinuori Kayode Idowu, formerly of Fela Kuti’s Afrika 70), and dripping in the same easy afrobeat big band grooves as Fela Kuti or Dele Sosimi’s music, it’s seven minutes of dazzling inter-band chemistry, perfect licks, and playful life-affirming vibes. “You can’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s freedom / It’s only freedom if you’re the big dog eating” go the lyrics, and it’s hard not to get swept up in the Ottawa group’s emancipatory joy.
The Souljazz Orchestra's new album Under Burning Skies is released September 22nd via Strut, preorder here