Afrobeat ace

“When I heard these cats, it was like another dimension... a deeper feel to me...it was like, 'Man, this is IT. We gotta try to be like this!" Bootsy Collins – former JBs bassist + P-Funkateer on visiting the Shrine in Lagos 1970 with the James Brown band.

When the self proclaimed Godfather of Soul, James Brown, cut that tune 'Funky Drummer' he could well have been referring to Nigerian master drummer Tony Allen. History tells us there was more than a little synchronicity taking place at the birth of The Funk. Tony Allen is without doubt the man who helped shape the rhythmic pulse of modern day funk and, for over 20 years and 30 albums, provided the foundation for Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s seminal brand of Afrobeat. Within minutes of meeting the man, one immediately gets the feeling that the drummer’s commitment to testing the rhythmic dimensions of the music is undiminished. “Black Voices and Home Cooking, they were good albums but people kept asking, ‘When will you do something rootsy? Lagos No Shaking, that was the beginning of going back to my roots,” reflects Tony after quizzing him on his World Circuit debut, Secret Agent. “Everything has a time and this latest album is a fusion between Paris and Lagos”.

A Paris resident for many years, Tony’s last tour of Nigeria came to fruition under the auspices of the French Cultural Centre, and it set him on a path to discover and promote a new generation of singers and musicians. “That tour was mostly with Nigerian musicians. We had three days of rehearsals and it gave me a clue as to who the new musicians are and where the new talent is coming from. After that first tour one of the singers, Ashare, got her own break. The recording industry there is a mess. There are a bunch of good musicians but there is only one club…(Fela Kuti’s eldest son) Femi Kuti’s Shrine. Most of the musicians play in the church… it is the church that is making them live!”

With Secret Agent the drummer got busy on the drum programming… yes, even though Tony Allen is pushing 70 years old he is a dab hand on the laptop. “We wrote five tracks and took them to Lagos. We did auditions with many singers and they were all good. They sang along to the rhythm tracks. Following that we wrote seven more songs. We had everything structured and when we went into the studio in Paris we recorded the instrumental tracks without the singers being there.” They built each song up around the vocals! As I sat there I had this vision of Tony at his kit filling out the rhythms he’d programmed in his own unique way, orchestrating the horns and the other instrumentation. Musicians never cease to amaze me.

“We needed to get the rawness so I decided to mix it in Lagos.” enthused Tony. “Afrobeat is so delicate for mixing. You can lose the power, lose the force. A lot of engineers cannot deal with the avante garde-ist style. I am looking for the ruggedness. It was this mix that I gave to Nick Gold at World Circuit. He is a producer. He knows what works. He did his mix and he has done his job. It is not disappointing.” I’m sure that Nick and Sonny at World Circuit will be pleased about that! Secret Agent has that organic analogue quality. The master’s sprung loaded snare sound shuffles away, there’s that ever present Rhodes alongside those trademark horn fanfares and female choruses. The vocals of Orobiyi Adunni aka Ayo (check ‘Ayenlo’…), Bola Dumoye aka Switch, King Odudu et al are impressive and what springs from the grooves of this record is the ease with which traditions are fused. Even the accordion sits comfortably in the mix. Afrobeat is the music of creativity and resistance and as ‘Too Many Prisoners’ comes to a close you know the spirit has been maintained.

“I get bored easily. So I have to create ways not to get bored,” Tony Allen says with a smile and it’s clear that the freedom offered to him by collaborating is forever enticing. It took a Blur song to connect him into the modern day mainstream and following the sessions with The Good The Bad & The Queen his relationship with Damon Albarn and Africa Express is ongoing and fruitful. A few years back I managed to catch him play with B+’s Brasil In Time project alongside a small army of drummers and wayward LA beat-master Madlib in Sao Paulo, Brazil – it was amazing.

As the summer unfolds and coinciding with the release of Secret Agent, Tony Allen will join the Nigerian artist Lemi Ghariokwu, who created the covers for Fela’s classic album sleeves, for the London launch of the Art’s Own Kind exhibition at Rich Mix. Tony Allen and his band will play the opening party of Ornette Coleman’s forthcoming and heavily anticipated Meltdown at the Royal Festival Hall and during the festival he will join forces with ?uestlove and The Roots and saxophonist David Murray. “I am just a struggling musician and I come alone. I am not a government,” says the drummer in conclusion. “Fela is not replaceable. I am just trying my best. I portray myself as an African, as an African drummer. I want to put my country on the map. So it’s Afrobeat all the way from now on!”

Paul Bradshaw / Straight No Chaser

Secret Agent is released 8 June www.worldcircuit.co.uk
Art’s Own Kind: Afrobeat & The Art Of Lemi Ghariokwu 8 June-6 July www.richmix.org.uk
Ornette Coleman’s Meltdown 13-21 June www.southbankcentre.co.uk

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// ALSO

• Tony Allen
• Femi Kuti
• Black Man’s Cry - The Inspiration Of Fela Kuti
• Tony Allen, Art’s Own Kind: Afrobeat & The Art Of Lemi Ghariokwu
• Ornette Coleman, Ornette Coleman's Meltdown
• Joe Bataan & James Pants live at Cargo 11 June plus dates in Leeds and Birmingham
• DJ Floro, Chart
• Quantic and his Combo Barbaro album launch tour starts Friday 5 June at the ICA
• WOMAD at the TOWER OF LONDON 19 & 20 September 2009 - win tickets!



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