Tony Allen

Biography

Tony Oladipo Allen (20 July 1940 – 30 April 2020) was a Nigerian drummer, composer, and songwriter. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti's band Africa '70 from 1968 to 1979, and was one of the founders of the Afrobeat genre.
Fela once stated that "without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat". He was described by Brian Eno as "perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived".
Later in life, Allen collaborated with Damon Albarn on several projects, including the Good, the Bad & the Queen and Rocket Juice & the Moon, as well as on Yannis & the Yaw with Yannis Philippakis.

Early career

Allen was born in Lagos, Nigeria, to James Alabi Allen, a motor mechanic from British Nigeria (now present day Nigeria) and Prudentia Mettle, from the Gold Coast (now present day Ghana). He began playing drums at the age of 18, while working as an engineer for a radio station. Allen was influenced by music his father listened to: Jùjú, a popular Yoruba music from the 1940s, but also American jazz, and the growing highlife scene in Nigeria and Ghana. Allen studied the recordings of jazz drummers including Art Blakey and Max Roach while developing his style, as well as Ghanaian drummer Guy Warren (later known as Kofi Ghanaba who pioneered Afro-jazz).
Allen was hired by "Sir" Victor Olaiya to play claves with his highlife band, the Cool Cats. Allen was able to fill the drum set chair when the former Cool Cats drummer left the band. Allen later played with Agu Norris and the Heatwaves, the Nigerian Messengers, and the Melody Makers.

Fela and Africa '70

In 1964, Fela Kuti invited Allen to audition for a jazz-highlife band he was forming. Kuti and Allen had played together as sidemen in the Lagos circuit. Fela complimented Allen's unique sound: "How come you are the only guy in Nigeria who plays like this – jazz and highlife?" Thus Allen became an original member of Kuti's "Koola Lobitos" highlife-jazz band.
In 1969, following a trip to the United States with Fela and Koola Lobitos, Allen served as the musical director of Fela's band, Africa '70, which developed a new militant African sound, mixing the heavy groove of soul with jazz, highlife, and the polyrhythmic template of Yoruba conventions.
Allen recounted how he and Fela wrote in 1970: "Fela used to write out the parts for all the musicians in the band (Africa '70). I was the only one who originated the music I played. Fela would ask what type of rhythm I wanted to play.… You can tell a good drummer because we… have four limbs… and they are… playing different things… the patterns don't just come from Yoruba… [but] other parts of Nigeria and Africa."
Allen recorded more than 30 albums with Fela and Africa '70. But by the late 1970s, tensions were increasing among the members of Africa '70 over royalties and recognition. Fela did support Allen's three solo recordings: Jealousy (1975), Progress (1977), and No Accommodation For Lagos (1979), but by 1979, Allen had chosen to leave Africa '70, taking many members with him. "'What makes me decide it's time to go? It's … everything...and (his) carelessness...like he doesn't care, like he doesn't know ...he doesn't feel he's done anything (wrong). And with all the parasites around too.... there were 71 people on tour by now and only 30 working in the band....you got to ask why. Those guys were sapping Fela of his Force, of his Music."

Afrobeat to Afrofunk

Allen formed his own group, recording No Discrimination in 1980, and performing in Lagos until emigrating to London in 1984. Later moving to Paris, Allen recorded with King Sunny Adé, Ray Lema and Manu Dibango. Allen recorded N.E.P.A. in 1985. Post-Fela, Allen’s work explored genres including Afro-funk, alternative rock, avant-garde hip-hop, electronic music, and dub.
Allen's 13th album, Lagos No Shaking×Lagos No Shaking20 February 2006 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Ise Nla5:192Morose6:143Aye Le5:304Losun5:275One Tree3:586Ole5:307Kilode5:148Awa Na Re4:539Ogogoro5:3710Moyege6:0811Gbedu5:17 (Lagos is OK) was released on 13 June 2006. Recorded live in Lagos, with a full-sized Afrobeat band, Lagos No Shaking marked Allen's return to more traditional Afrobeat sound.

Later work

Allen appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot and Riot (2002) in tribute to Fela Kuti. Allen appeared alongside Res, Ray Lema, Baaba Maal, Positive Black Soul and Archie Shepp on a track entitled "No Agreement."
Allen played drums throughout the 2003 album Love Trap by Susheela Raman and also performed with her live. Allen recorded album "Live/Tony Allen" (2004) also. In 2006, Allen joined Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, and Simon Tong as drummer for the Good, the Bad & the Queen. Allen contacted Albarn after hearing the 2000 single "Music Is My Radar" by Albarn's band Blur, which references him. They released their self-titled debut album in 2007, followed by Merrie Land in 2018. Allen and Albarn also collaborated on the 2012 album Rocket Juice & the Moon.
Allen played drums on two tracks on the 2007 album 5:55 by Charlotte Gainsbourg: "5:55" and "Night-Time Intermission", backed by French duo Air and Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. He also made an appearance playing the drums in the video for "Once Upon a Time" by French duo Air in late 2007. He was a featured artist on Zap Mama's albums Supermoon (2007) and ReCreation (2009), adding his voice to the tracks "1000 Ways" and "African Diamond." Allen also contributed drums on "People Dansa", an afrobeat rhythm-influenced track on the second album of the Brazilian singer Flavia Coelho, released in 2014. His album Secret Agent×Secret Agent8 June 2009 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Secret Agent5:202Ijo5:133Switch4:494Celebrate7:545Ayenlo4:576Busybody4:347Pariwo5:538Nina Lowo5:449Atuwaba0:5010Alutere3:4411Elewon Po5:44 was released in June 2009 by World Circuit. He released A Tribute to Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers (2017), a four-song EP on Blue Note Records featuring a reworked Afrobeat version of Art Blakey's "Moanin'×Moanin'2017 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Moanin'5:02". In 2017, Allen collaborated with Malian singer Oumou Sangaré for the track "Yere faga" from her album Mogoya.
Filmmaker Opiyo Okeyo released the documentary film Birth of Afrobeat (2019), about Allen's musical career. The film screened at American Black Film Festival and won the 21st Century Fox Global Inclusion Award for Emerging Voices at the BlackStar Film Festival. Damon Albarn and Tony Allen and band performed at a concert in the Netherlands, among then the Lowlands Festival (2019). Birth of Afrobeat was acquired by American Public Television and had its television premiere January 20, 2020 on PBS.
Allen was featured on the Gorillaz track "How Far?" (2020) alongside Skepta, as part of the band's Song Machine project. Allen contributed to seven tracks on the album Keleketla! (2020), a collaborative project co-ordinated by Johannesburg's Keleketla Library and English electronic musicians Coldcut, recorded in both Soweto and London.
Two posthumous Allen albums were released. There Is No End (2021) featured Allen on production alongside rappers and singers from around the world, including Danny Brown, Nah Eeto, and Sampa the Great. The second release after Allen's death was The Solution Is Restless, a collaborative album featuring Joan As Police Woman and Dave Okumu. 2021 also saw the release of April March's album In Cinerama, which features Allen as a drummer; he is also credited for co-writing several tracks. An EP Allen recorded with the Foals singer Yannis Philippakis, Yannis & the Yaw, was released in August 2024.

Death

On 30 April 2020, Allen died of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, aged 79, at Georges Pompidou European Hospital in Paris. Tributes came from musicians and producers including Flea, Peter Gabriel, Jeff Mills, Nigel Godrich and Sean Lennon. Damon Albarn said he was his "number one musical teacher" and that he would "never, ever play with anyone like him again".