National Geographic Music (National Geographic)

To commemorate World AIDS Day, the Brooklyn Academy of Music will celebrate the legacy of Nigerian musical giant Fela Kuti with Red Hot and Riot Live, two nights of music beginning on Friday, December 1st.

The event will recreate, onstage, the critically acclaimed 2002 Fela tribute record of the same name, and will feature many of the original participants. Hosted by music director and Latin alternative producer Andres Levin, the shows will include interpretations of Fela Kuti's music by legendary African pop artists including Tony Allen, Amadou & Mariam, Cheikh Lô, and Les Nubians, as well as American artists as dead prez, Meshell Ndegeocello, and Yerba Buena.

Fela Kuti was the pioneering musician and bandleader who created Afrobeat, a hard-driving, irresistible fusion of '70s funk, jazz virtuosity and thundering Yoruba rhythms. The politically outspoken Kuti was a vocal critic of colonialism and corruption and often fell afoul of Nigeria's military government in the 1970s and '80s. Though he passed from AIDS in 1997, Fela's legacy of musical activism remains an inspiration to musicians worldwide.

A portion of both evening's proceeds will benefit African Services Committee, an organization which promotes the health and self-sufficiency of New York City's African and Caribbean immigrant communities through the provision of HIV/AIDS care and support services.

For more information on ticketing and show times, consult the Red Hot & Riot Live website.