BB King - I Believe To My Soul - Live in Africa 1974

                                  B.B. King Live In Africa ‘74
B.B. stands onstage before Muhammad Ali and a crowd of 80,000 on the continent his ancestors left in chains and gives one of the most thrilling performances of his life. “The King of the Blues” (B.B.), “Soul Brother #1” (James Brown) and other African-American artists on the bill reveled in the return to their cultural motherland for a gala affair that was attended by fans and journalists from all over the world. The backstory around this perfonnance is rich

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 BB King - I Believe To My Soul - Live in Africa 1974

 Behind B.B. is a large orchestra, made up of core members ofB.B.’s touring band - pianist Ron Levy, drummer Sonny Freeman and saxophonist Bobby Forte - plus studio musicians recruited (mostly) from New York, including renowned session guitarist Larry Carlton. Directed by Hampton Reese, B.B.’s longtime friend and musical tutor (you’ll see him in his plaid sport coat conducting the band), this collection of musicians achieved their amazing performance after a single rehearsal in Kinshasa. Hampton wrote the charts for all the songs in the set, and every musician was playing from those charts. Of the musicians who played that concert from B.B.’s 1974 touring band, only Ron Levy is still living.