TONY ALLEN Vinilo y CD

Review: This is a posthumous album by the Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, one of the pioneers of Afrobeat music and a longtime collaborator with the genre's founder, and activist, Fela Kuti. The album features Allen's last recordings before his death in 2020 - which were in turn produced by the American composer, lawyer and producer Adrian Younge, otherwise known for his most prominent work with rappers Ghostface Killah, Kendrick Lamar and Jay Z. Guided by Younge's chops on production, the album hears Allen's trademark stark, cacophonous funky-drummed rapture, amid a heavenly collision of keyboard janks and offbeat shoulder-raising shrugs.

Review: This is a posthumous tribute album to the late Nigerian drummer Tony Allen, who was one of the pioneers of Afrobeat music and a longtime collaborator of Fela Kuti. The album features Allen's drumming mixed with new compositions by the American producer Adrian Younge, who is known for his work with artists like Ghostface Killah, Kendrick Lamar and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. The pronouncement that "jazz is dead" is certainly a controversial one, but Younge's aim there is to equate Allen with the spirit of jazz as a whole. The jubilant warpery and tremolo-ing flutes of lead tracks like 'Ebun' should be enough to know: like the impenetrable durability of jazz, Allen will live on through his work.

Review: Heroic Nigerian drummer Tony Allen put out this landmark album in 1984, but the sounds bare all the hallmarks of his best 70s material. The grooves are super chunky and many say the title track here is one of Allen's best ever tunes. It has a punchy hook and political sentiment that really resonates while the rest of the tunes are not too shabby either. There wired up with electronics next to the trumpets, drums and percussion and have a super cool Celluloid Electric Africa vibe as a result. A regal and dub version is included of that title track meaning this reissue won't hang around for long.

Review: Comet Records continue their Afrika 70 reissue series with more from the pioneering and visionary Tony Allen and The Afro Messengers. It focuses on his best material from the late 70s, remasters it all and presses it nice and loud. The No Discrimination LP is as relevant now as ever in terms of its messaging, and musically it also holds up. The lyrics are socio-politically charged. The drumming is tight as hell and though this marks Allen's first solo album away from Fela's band, it finds him in fine form as he takes afrobeat into the future.

Review: On its' original release in 2002, Tony Allen's HomeCookin album was arguably a little overlooked. Like its' predecessor, 1999's Black Voices, the set updated the legendary drummer's Afrobeat sound for a new millennium. As this timely reissue proves, it was a particularly successful exercise. The album's genius lies in the Nigerian sticks-man's combination of traditional elements - most notably his loose, skittish polyrhythms, guitars and punchy horns - with elements of future-jazz, modern soul (see the brilliant Eska collaboration, "What's Your Fashion") and hip-hop. British rapper Ty excels himself on a number of killer cuts, though it's a more traditional Allen style dancefloor workout - the sublime "Crazy Afrobeat" - that really stands out.