Allen has no end

 

There are arguably amazing artists out there, and there definitely have been a few throughout the past century. Some of whom literally influenced the course of musical history. Such is the case with John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s Beatles. Such is the case with Vinicius de Moraes and Antônio Carlos Jobim‘s Bossa Nova. Such is the case with Fela Kuti and Tony Allen‘s Afrobeat. To say that each of these gentlemen had an impact that readily surpassed their own work — and lifetime — is somewhat of an understatement: we still very much hear what the Beatles produced — and influenced. Bossa Nova is one of the major musical inventions of the 20th century. And so is Afrobeat.

Interesting, the Afrobeat movement was born in Africa in the beginning of the past century, right about the time the Blues played by descendants of enslaved African-Americans was beginning to spread in the United States. And, as modern Soul and Rock ‘n’ Roll took the (music) world by storm in the 50’s and 60’s, so did Afrobeat in places like Ghana and Nigeria, with emerging visionaries like Fela Kuti forging a new sound that subtly mixed traditional African harmonies with foreign influences — those of the (former) colonizers… Kuti and the musicians he assembled contributed to developing a revolutionary sound, based in no small part on the drumming of Mr Tony Allen.

As the drummer of Fela Kuti’s band Africa 70’s for over a decade starting in the late 1960’s, Allen was indeed instrumental in developing the sound that became associated with a resurgence in African contemporary music. While Cameroon’s Manu Dibango famously ended up having one of his hits sampled by none other than Michael Jackson (that would be “Soul Makossa”), Kuti, Allen and bandmates not only raised Afrobeat’s profile but brought it a degree of societal and political relevance somewhat comparable to what Mr Bob Marley was attempting around the same time in Jamaica. Yet another revolutionary, if you ask us…

In all this, Tony Allen provided the foundation for Fela Kuti’s band, effectively developing what modern Afrobeat sounded like. That alone would make him a historical figure in anyone’s book, but he didn’t stop there, far from it: perpetually looking to innovate and break new grounds, he later routinely got involved in projects that pushed the boundaries of contemporary music. One of those projects involved working with legendary Techno DJ Jeff Mills. Another one was called The Good, The Bad & The Queen, featuring Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn. To say that Tony Allen had a taste for diversity would be the euphemism of the past — and current — century…

Alas, the great man passed away on this day last year, leaving behind droves of musical treasures for us enjoy. And, today, the posthumous There Is No End is being released by legendary label Blue Note. Just in time…