Knitting Factory Records
Encyclopedia
Knitting Factory Records is an independent American
music label that is notable for promoting a variety of artists including deceased Nigerian
political agitator and musician Fela Kuti
. The label promotes a variety of music artists including AgesandAges
, Ash Black Bufflo
, Cuong Vu
, Graham Haynes
, Femi Kuti
, Gary Lucas
, Lumerians
, Thomas Chapin
, Patrolled By Radar
, Joe Morris
, Rachid Taha
, Seun Kuti
, and Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers
.
The label was begun in 1998 as a spinoff of the music venues called Knitting Factory
and signed artist Thomas Chapin
as the first artist, according to the New York Times. Since then, it has promoted a variety of independent artists and groups such as Hasidic New Wave, which featured Jewish musicians combining with Senegalese
Muslim
musicians in 2002.
The label released six albums from Nigerian
musician and activist
Fela Kuti
in January 2011. The label released the entire catalogue of Kuti's Universal
-controlled music in North America
from 2009 to 2011. The late Fela Kuti
has fascinated millions, according to the Boston Globe. A decade after his death in 1997, Kuti's music is becoming mainstream, and a Broadway musical titled Fela!
was created, which chronicled his life as a political agitator with more than two dozen wives through use of his music. Kuti was jailed over 200 times, and his mother
was murdered after being thrown out of a window. His sons Seun Kuti
and Femi Kuti
have become prominent musicians as well and are promoted by Knitting Factory Records. In addition to releasing music by Fela Kuti and his sons, the label also released the original Broadway cast recording of the musical adaptation Fela! Knitting Factory reached a licensing deal with Universal Music to reissue Fela Kuti's music in the United States during 2010.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music label that is notable for promoting a variety of artists including deceased Nigerian
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
political agitator and musician Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
. The label promotes a variety of music artists including AgesandAges
AgesandAges
AgesandAges is an American rock band from Portland which has been receiving positive critical attention because of its upbeat "raw choral pop" sound. Their music features seven-part vocal harmonies accompanied by handclaps, shakers and noise-makers. It is a secular band with a big tent revival...
, Ash Black Bufflo
Ash Black Bufflo
Ash Black Bufflo, sometimes spelled Buffalo, is the professional name of Portland-based music composer and experimental musician Jay Clarke. He composes music for feature-length films, short films, documentaries, and dance and theater projects...
, Cuong Vu
Cuong Vu
is a jazz trumpeter and vocalist.Born in Saigon, he left Vietnam with his family at the age of five in 1975, settling in Bellevue, Washington...
, Graham Haynes
Graham Haynes
Graham Haynes is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer, the son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes....
, Femi Kuti
Femi Kuti
Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician and the eldest son of afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti....
, Gary Lucas
Gary Lucas
Gary Lucas is an American guitarist, a Grammy-nominated songwriter, a soundtrack composer for film and television, and an international recording artist with over a dozen solo albums to date. He has been described as "one of the best and most original guitarists in America" ; a "legendary leftfield...
, Lumerians
Lumerians
Lumerians is a San Francisco Bay Area based five-member band which has a psychedelic "mindbender" space rock sound. The group is notable for performances characterized by "transcendent live video projections" and having "incredible visuals," according to one music critic. One critic described the...
, Thomas Chapin
Thomas Chapin
Thomas Chapin was an American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist. Though primarily an alto saxophonist, he also played sopranino saxophone and various flutes....
, Patrolled By Radar
Patrolled By Radar
Patrolled by Radar, formerly 50 Cent Haircut, is a 4-member American rock band notable for an Americana Roots rock sound which is based in the greater Los Angeles area...
, Joe Morris
Joe Morris (guitarist)
Joe Morris is an American jazz guitarist. In addition to leading his own groups, he has recorded with William Parker, Whit Dickey, Rob Brown, Joe Maneri and others...
, Rachid Taha
Rachid Taha
Rachid Taha is an Algerian singer and activist based in France who has been described as "sonically adventurous." His music is influenced by many different styles such as rock, electronic, punk and raï.-Early life:Taha was born in 1958 in Sig , Algeria, although a second source suggests he was...
, Seun Kuti
Seun Kuti
Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti , commonly known as Seun Kuti, is a Nigerian musician, and the youngest son of legendary afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Seun leads his father's former band Egypt 80....
, and Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers
Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers
Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York with a blues punk sound led by singer-songwriter Shilpa Ray. Her music has been compared to Blondie and The Cramps flavored with the "Goth burlesque" of the Dresden Dolls, and her singing has been compared to the...
.
The label was begun in 1998 as a spinoff of the music venues called Knitting Factory
Knitting Factory
The Knitting Factory is a music venue and concert house with locations in Brooklyn, Boise, Reno, and Spokane. The club originally specialized in jazz and experimental music and has expanded to showcasing all genres of music, performing arts and comedy....
and signed artist Thomas Chapin
Thomas Chapin
Thomas Chapin was an American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist. Though primarily an alto saxophonist, he also played sopranino saxophone and various flutes....
as the first artist, according to the New York Times. Since then, it has promoted a variety of independent artists and groups such as Hasidic New Wave, which featured Jewish musicians combining with Senegalese
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
musicians in 2002.
The label released six albums from Nigerian
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
musician and activist
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
in January 2011. The label released the entire catalogue of Kuti's Universal
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
-controlled music in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
from 2009 to 2011. The late Fela Kuti
Fela Kuti
Fela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
has fascinated millions, according to the Boston Globe. A decade after his death in 1997, Kuti's music is becoming mainstream, and a Broadway musical titled Fela!
Fela!
Fela! is a musical with a book by Bill T. Jones and Jim Lewis, based on music and lyrics by the late Nigerian singer Fela Kuti, with additional music by Aaron Johnson and Jordan Mclean and additional lyrics by Jim Lewis. It is based on events in the life of groundbreaking Nigerian composer and...
was created, which chronicled his life as a political agitator with more than two dozen wives through use of his music. Kuti was jailed over 200 times, and his mother
Mother
A mother, mum, mom, momma, or mama is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally...
was murdered after being thrown out of a window. His sons Seun Kuti
Seun Kuti
Oluseun Anikulapo Kuti , commonly known as Seun Kuti, is a Nigerian musician, and the youngest son of legendary afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Seun leads his father's former band Egypt 80....
and Femi Kuti
Femi Kuti
Olufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician and the eldest son of afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti....
have become prominent musicians as well and are promoted by Knitting Factory Records. In addition to releasing music by Fela Kuti and his sons, the label also released the original Broadway cast recording of the musical adaptation Fela! Knitting Factory reached a licensing deal with Universal Music to reissue Fela Kuti's music in the United States during 2010.
Artists
A list of past and current artists include the following:- AgesandAgesAgesandAgesAgesandAges is an American rock band from Portland which has been receiving positive critical attention because of its upbeat "raw choral pop" sound. Their music features seven-part vocal harmonies accompanied by handclaps, shakers and noise-makers. It is a secular band with a big tent revival...
- Ash Black BuffloAsh Black BuffloAsh Black Bufflo, sometimes spelled Buffalo, is the professional name of Portland-based music composer and experimental musician Jay Clarke. He composes music for feature-length films, short films, documentaries, and dance and theater projects...
- Thomas ChapinThomas ChapinThomas Chapin was an American composer and saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist. Though primarily an alto saxophonist, he also played sopranino saxophone and various flutes....
- Graham HaynesGraham HaynesGraham Haynes is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer, the son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes....
- Fela KutiFela KutiFela Anikulapo Kuti , or simply Fela , was a Nigerian multi-instrumentalist musician and composer, pioneer of Afrobeat music, human rights activist, and political maverick.-Biography:...
- Femi KutiFemi KutiOlufela Olufemi Anikulapo Kuti popularly known as Femi Kuti, is a Nigerian musician and the eldest son of afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti....
- Seun KutiSeun KutiOluseun Anikulapo Kuti , commonly known as Seun Kuti, is a Nigerian musician, and the youngest son of legendary afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti. Seun leads his father's former band Egypt 80....
- Gary LucasGary LucasGary Lucas is an American guitarist, a Grammy-nominated songwriter, a soundtrack composer for film and television, and an international recording artist with over a dozen solo albums to date. He has been described as "one of the best and most original guitarists in America" ; a "legendary leftfield...
- LumeriansLumeriansLumerians is a San Francisco Bay Area based five-member band which has a psychedelic "mindbender" space rock sound. The group is notable for performances characterized by "transcendent live video projections" and having "incredible visuals," according to one music critic. One critic described the...
- Joe MorrisJoe Morris (guitarist)Joe Morris is an American jazz guitarist. In addition to leading his own groups, he has recorded with William Parker, Whit Dickey, Rob Brown, Joe Maneri and others...
- Patrolled By RadarPatrolled By RadarPatrolled by Radar, formerly 50 Cent Haircut, is a 4-member American rock band notable for an Americana Roots rock sound which is based in the greater Los Angeles area...
- Shilpa Ray and her Happy HookersShilpa Ray and her Happy HookersShilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York with a blues punk sound led by singer-songwriter Shilpa Ray. Her music has been compared to Blondie and The Cramps flavored with the "Goth burlesque" of the Dresden Dolls, and her singing has been compared to the...
- Rachid TahaRachid TahaRachid Taha is an Algerian singer and activist based in France who has been described as "sonically adventurous." His music is influenced by many different styles such as rock, electronic, punk and raï.-Early life:Taha was born in 1958 in Sig , Algeria, although a second source suggests he was...
- Cuong VuCuong Vuis a jazz trumpeter and vocalist.Born in Saigon, he left Vietnam with his family at the age of five in 1975, settling in Bellevue, Washington...
- Bill WareBill WareBill Ware III born William Anthony Ware III is an American jazz vibraphonist.Ware played bass and piano early in his career, playing at the Harlem Jazzmobile. After spending several years playing Latin jazz, he formed his own Latin Jazz group, AM Sleep...