It’s difficult to exaggerate the scale of Tony Allen’s talent and influence. The Nigerian drummer joined Fela Kuti’s band when the soon-to-be-legendary performer was still impersonating James Brown.
Allen introduced the iconic polyrhythms that would define Afrobeat music as much as Fela’s saxophone or outsized personality.
He died suddenly from an aneurysm yesterday in Paris, leaving behind a legacy that spans decades, genres, and continents. An exhaustive account of Allen’s recording career could fill several books.
From his early start in highlife OG Victor Olaiya’s band the Cool Cats, through his 30 albums with Fela and his own records as the bandleader of Africa ’70, Allen’s career was the stuff of legend well before he hit a dark
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