Tony Allen - Home Cooking

From what I've heard of Fela, that's what he did as well. Consistent quality, but not much variety.

What claims to be the most complete Fela discography in the world (and mighty impressive in any event) is HERE:

http://biochem.chem.nagoya-u.ac.jp/~endo/EAFela.html

tony allen is crucial to every fela recording i've heard. i saw him last night w/ a fela-ish band, najite?.. he pretty much just rubbed a gourd or something for the entire set, but the guy behind the kit was perfect and the whole set was amazing. then allen got up behind the drums for roy ayers and his band for a song, seemed a little mis-matched but everyone was enjoying it.

anyone have any allen-related or allen-involved or similarly drumtastic recommendations?

tony allen is playing in madison on sunday!

RIP

RIP Tony Allen #Afrobeat #drummer #legend pic.twitter.com/BiKOf0UlBp

— Brian Eno News (@dark_shark) April 30, 2020

Saw him in NYC in 2017 when he released The Source on Blue Note (a fantastic album). Interviewed him for Down Beat around that time, too.

oh man RIP. what a legend.

RIP Tony, a special musician.

Nooooooo, RIP.

I saw him in 2010 at a very small festival here in Madison, which I was told was his first U.S. performance (!). It was fantastic. A lot like watching Clyde Stubblefield (on a good day), in that you're not going to get pyrotechnics and he played very quietly, but it was perfectly controlled and assured, and it it was *that sound*, all the tiny nuances that made him sound like him (that most drummers miss when they play the style he invented). A master.

aw no RIP tony.

xpost -- look upthread, Jordan -- the last post before this news was you being excited for that very performance.

Saw him before a small crowd in DC lead a band once and his playing was great. RIP

His Art Blakey tribute from a few years ago got a lot of play in my house.

RIP. Saw him play in NYC around 2007 or so with the Good, the Bad and the Queen.

Questlove is doing a tribute on his nightly stream:

https://t.co/oYzvCrlbqM

— Hold On Be Strong (@questlove) May 1, 2020

Questlove is playing Fela and Tony Allen now on his Youtube and Instagram and twitch show

i'm playing fela and tony allen now in my living room 👀👀👈

i interviewed him in 1985-ish -- not sure if it ever ran anywhere, probably wasn't that good also bcz i was v green then and certainly didn't know the questions to ask but :( :( :( :(

Wow, The Source was one that completely slipped under my radar. Listening now, so great! RIP drumming legend.

xpost -- look upthread, Jordan -- the last post before this news was you being excited for that very performance.

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, April 30, 2020 5:53 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Whoa

One of the greats. Respect, RIP.

Just found about this :(

He was still young, creatively active and interesting even in his later collaborations and live performances.

I took a Tony Allen master class in 2018 and it was so totally awesome and worth it -- and on my birthday too!! -- he was one of the coolest drummers I have ever seen play, just super duper relaxed and calm. I didn't have the nerve to go up to the front to play with him, but the people who did were all told to relax by Tony Allen. His feel was just so incredible.

Also now I have an excuse to talk about Fela with my students :) I'm sad he has passed but I feel like I learned irl from him, which is an amazing feeling.

LL if you're going to teach on Tony Allen have you read the autobiography that he wrote w Michael Veal? You can get it on Kindle--though I'd wait until tomorrow so as not to cross the picket line ;-)

No I have not!! Thank you for the tip!! I'll buy it tomorrow :)

(Obv it prob doesn't compare to actually taking one of his classes! His work in Africa 70 is obv world class but I'm actually a pretty big fan of his mid-80s album N.E.P.A.) xp

Blasted “Confusion” earlier, what a genius he was

Listened to the new one with Masekela earlier today -- great stuff!

Great piece by musicians who collaborated or studied with Allen

Taking place in Luxembourg, at A l’Atelier, Festival Printemps Musical, across its 52-minutes, Allen leads an effusive show with his band – as vibrant at 69 as he was decades earlier.
Stream it here: https://thevinylfactory.com/news/rememering-tony-allen-performs-live-full-concert-2011/

On the way to the concert, got hung up on all the sneaky album tracks Provided to YouTube by World Circuit: great sound on def. sub-audiophile headphones:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxPpDAv3ZQI

Now playing that one for third time

with the news, it occurred to me that i didn't actually own any of his records. picked up these two-fers and have been thoroughly enjoying them. definitely of the same ingredients that made fela's run from the same period so classic. i don't know how else to articulate this, so i'll just say what's on my mind: for such advanced and technically demanding music, it's just so damn listenable and easily enjoyed. and that's in no small part thanks to tony allen's rhythmic identity. certain drummers have that one trademark groove that they could play like no one else and it's what made them them: clyde stubblefield had the 'funky drummer' beat, earl palmer had the "swamp beat" (a term he coined with david axelrod), james gadson had the 'kissing my love' beat, and tony had what i can only refer to as the "afro beat." i got to see seun kuti's band several years ago and his drummer was very obviously (and not unexpectedly) a tony allen disciple and i was just in awe for the entire performance of how easily he was able to play that super intricate and complex beat.

truly original and unmistakably influential.