Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra

Antibalas
At the Granada Theater in Dallas, TX on May 19, 2005.
Background information
Also known as	Antibalas
Origin	United States
Genres	Afrobeat, Funk, Jazz
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Ninja Tune, ANTI-, Ropeadope, Exactamundo, Daptone
Associated acts	Ocote Soul Sounds, Chico Mann, Fu-Arkist-Ra, Ticklah, The Budos Band, Superhuman Happiness, The Daktaris
Website	antibalas.com
Members	Martín Perna Amayo Marcos García Jordan McLean Stuart D. Bogie Chris Vatalaro Nikhil P. Yerawadekar Miles Arntzen Marcus Farrar Raymond James Mason Will Rast Timothy J Allen
Past members	see below

Antibalas (Spanish for "bulletproof") is a Brooklyn-based afrobeat band that is modeled after Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra. Although their music generally follows the musical architecture and language of afrobeat, it incorporates elements of jazz, funk, dub, improvised music, and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa.

Founded in 1998 by Martín Perna as "Conjunto Antibalas", the group first performed on May 26, 1998, at St. Nicks Pub in Harlem at a poetry night organized by renowned visual artist Xaviera Simmons. Over the course of the next few months, the group solidified with a core of eleven band members and expanded their repertoire of original songs. For the first year of the group's existence, they performed exclusively at non-commercial venues such as block parties, lofts, and public parks, before securing a Friday night residency at the now-defunct NoMoore in August 1999. Called Africalia!, the residency lasted from August 1999 till April 2001, when the club was shut down by fire officials during the Giuliani administration's crackdown on nightclubs and cabarets. Guitarist and producer/engineer Gabriel Roth wrote several of the earlier tunes and oversaw recording and production of the first three records.

Over the next few years, the band's presence grew; by summer 2000 Antibalas had released their first album Liberation Afrobeat Vol. 1 and had toured twice in England, while continuing to play at venues throughout New York City. Recording with the group in the early days was Cameroonian drummer Jojo Kuo, who can be heard on the studio recordings of "Uprising" and "Machete".

By early 2002, the horn-driven outfit had released their second album, Talkatif, and continued to tour throughout the United States and Europe. In summer 2004, their third studio album, Who is This America?, was released on Ropeadope Records. Antibalas's album, Security, was produced by John McEntire and released on the ANTI- label in 2007.