Play That Funky Music: Chopteeth

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THERE WILL BE much bigger and lavish inaugural parties, but it's doubtful there will be more ass-shaking one than the "Afrofunk Inaugural Ball."

While it's mostly just a regular concert under a fancy name, there's no doubt the show will gleefully celebrate the election of Barack Obama: The gig is spearheaded by the D.C.-area Chopteeth, several of whose members worked on behalf of Obama's campaign.

The group have another reason to celebrate, too: It's debut CD, "Afrofunk Big Band," came out last September.

Chopteeth -- whose name comes from the Fela Kuti song "J'ehin J'ehin" -- is frequently compared to Brooklyn's Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, which is a favorite of bassist Robert Fox.

"He lived up in Brooklyn, and he loved Antibalas. ... That was a huge inspiration," said guitarist Michael Shereikis, who had no interest in being a neo-Afrobeat band, however. "I said, 'OK, but we have to stretch the taffy a bit here and get into some other kinds of music.' I love Afrobeat, but it's not my first love. So I wanted to stretch out. We fought that battle -- and ended up calling ourselves an Afrofunk band, which covers it all."

The group's deep grooves and sweaty jams have a pan-African sound, thanks in part to the time Shereikis spent in the Central African Republic (about a year in the Peace Corps) and the Ivory Coast (two years while working on a dissertation). But it's also because Chopteeth's ranks are drawn from all over the place.

"The band is getting more integrated," Shereikis said. "Right now, we're playing with [Nigerian] Tosin Aribisala, who used to be Femi Kuti's drummer; we're playing with this Ghanaian, Atta Addo, who's just a killer percussion player; and [singer] Anna Mwalagho is still with us, from Kenya. We're trying to generate this family vibe."

Still, Chopteeth is made up primarily of white Americans, which will cause some strident folks to question the band's "authenticity."

"It is predominately white," Sherekis admits, "but the one thing is, the music has to be tight. If the music is sounding good and is rocking, you have to be intellectualizing the experience pretty heavily to not get into it. And if that's what you're doing, then maybe live music is not for you."

» Rock and Roll Hotel, 1353 H St. NE; with Elikeh, Sat., Jan. 17, 9 p.m., $15; 202-388-7625.

Photo by Veronika Lukasova