Dele Sosimi, the UK based Afrobeat ambassador, former band member of Fela Kuti’s Egypt 80 and co-founder with Femi Kuti of the Positive Force finally unleashes his full debut album with The Estuary 21 (masterminded by British musician Sam Duckworth, aka Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly) entitled The Confluence LP.
Having released The Confluence EP together early last year, Dele and Sam’s new record seeks pastures new exploring soul, jazz, r’n’b, funk and of course Afrobeat for an eccentric and life-affirming record brimming with feelings of freedom and possiblity.
Dele and Sam were introduced at Felabration 2012, the annual commemoration of the music of Fela Kuti in Lagos, Nigeria. Nearly ten years passed before the two musicians connected in Sam’s hometown of Southend-On-Sea (UK) in a post-lockdown creative boom, recording
the first EP over a burst of week-long sessions in 2021.
After the Confluence EP was released to much fanfare in early 2023, the two musicians realised that there was still plenty to put to tape, creativity was still oozing and thus the initial idea of a few tracks soon led to the idea of a fully-fledged album project.
Dele Sosimi
Born in Hackney, East London, but soon to return to his parents’ native Nigeria at the age of four, Dele Sosimi was schooled and raised in Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s Laklkuta Repulik (which he now refers to as his university of life). After Fela’s passing in 1997, Dele went on to focus on developing his solo career and, honing his creative talents, and with much patience on his part, carved out his own Afrobeat crown.
Sam Duckworth
A veteran at 36 years old (!), Sam Duckworth has been releasing music as Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly for half of his life. A catalogue that includes four top 40 singles, two top 40 albums (including the gold certified ‘Chronicles of A Bohemian Teenager’ that recently celebrated its 15th anniversary), a German club number 1 single and collaborations with artists ranging from Shy FX, Baaba Maal, Lily Allen and Jehst. Recently, Duckworth produced Benjamin Frances Leftwich’s album ‘To Carry A Whale’ and has been working on the forthcoming album by Kate Nash.