[FA Worldmusic] Fw: Seun Kuti's New York Debut Performance at SOB's, July 1, 2007

[Evangeline Kim]

Hello, World Music People,

Here's a message from Phil Ballman, Seun's Agent, about last night's Seun Kuti
debut concert at the Sounds of Brazil Club here in New York-

Seun Kuti is a clear, rising star.

Evangeline

--------------------------


"Great running into you at the amazing Seun Kuti show. What an exciting night,
I can't believe we pulled the tour off despite all the incredible challenges.
There were a lot of doubters who didn't know how good Seun and the Egypt 80
would be...but like his father Fela said, "who no know, go know".


Getting the visas was a total nightmare, far beyond the worst experiences of
anyone involved. Let's just say that in our intense efforts to save the day,
we pulled off a minor miracle, with incredible help from Brian Keigher and
Mike Orlove at the City of Chicago. The effort also included the Governor of
Lagos, Senator Barack Obama's office, and even Nobel-Prize winner Wole Soyinka
(Seun's uncle). Ultimately the band got their visa interview in Ottawa,
Ontario and did an epic all-day and night drive of 16 hours to make the first
show in Madison, WI. It was really down to the wire and everyone was nervous
but we didn't give up, and it got done."