Igo Chico

Igo Chico (birth date unavailable) played tenor saxophone for Fela Kuti's afrobeat entourage Africa '70 during its formative period in the early 1970s.

He eventually left the band after a dispute with Kuti, who took up tenor saxophone himself to replace him.

Chico's swelling, lyrical, palm-wine-infused style greatly contrasted with Fela Kuti's more punctuated, machine-gun-like style on the instrument. His solos throughout the band's early 70's recordings are distinguishable by those properties and by his growly timbre, though the performance credits are not well documented in the album notes to the digital CD re-releases.

A characteristic Chico tenor solo is his performance in the tune "Monday Morning In Lagos" from the album He Miss Road. Another definitive solo appears in "It's No Possible (Ko Se Se)" from the same album.

External links

• Interview with Cream dummer, occasional Africa 70 bandmate, and friend of Fela Kuti, Ginger Baker
• Igo Chico at Discogs.com