Photo by Josh Timmermans
Kalu & The Electric Joint is the KUTX Artist of the Month for November.
Kalu & The Electric Joint is a meeting point for a lot of styles and backgrounds. Kalu James was born in Nigeria and earned something of a musical education with a three-year-long residency at the Continental Club Gallery, teaming up with the blues-based stylings of guitarist JT Holt. Add in drummer John Spiece–who’s a mainstay with Grupo Fantasma and Brownout–and you get Time Undone, a funky mix of a debut album.
The trio bring these diverse influences to their guest DJ set this week on My KUTX, ahead of a show at the Empire Control Room with George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic. Kalu, JT, and John talk about the importance of Jeff Buckley’s voice, Fela Kuti’s polyrhythms, and Led Zeppelin’s riffs on their own sound. Listen to My KUTX on Saturday, November 18, 6 to 7 p.m. or anytime at the bottom of the page.
–Art Levy // producer, My KUTX
Playlist:
[intro music: Kalu & The Electric Joint – “Too Low To Get High”]
1. Miriam Makeba – “Malaika”
2. Corey Harris – “God Don’t Ever Change”
3. The Beatles – “I’m Only Sleeping”
4. Jeff Buckley – “So Real”
5. Led Zeppelin – “In The Light”
6. Queens Of The Stone Age – “Make It Wit Chu”
7. Bob Marley – “Babylon System”
8. Morphine – “The Night”
9. Stevie Wonder – “As”
10. Fela Kuti – “Colonial Mentality” (radio edit)