TONY ODALIPO ALLEN - A TRIBUTE
“There was no drummer like Tony Allen” – Femi Kuti
It’s with a heavy sadness that we heard the news that our friend and fellow-traveler Tony Allen passed away in the night. Apparently, he was feeling fine yesterday, fit, ready for a session, a beat, a whisky (or ‘yellow water’ as he liked to call his favorite tipple), like he always was. Then he felt poorly, was taken to hospital in Paris, and two hours later he was gone. It’s a small blessing that there was no long decline for a man who always looked so trim, so capable of living life to the full in every sense. You’d be forgiven for thinking that he could go on forever, chatting, drinking, smoking, laughing, and being such a generous upbeat presence in our lives.
That was the man, then there was the legend: the youth from Lagos who taught himself how to play drums, one ear tuned to Art Blakey, Max Roach and Kenny Clarke, and the other to the music of the ancestors, the African beats of Guy Warren, and other highlife precursors. When he met Fela Kuti in 1964, the wayward prince asked, “how come you’re the only guy in Nigeria who plays like this – jazz and highlife?”
For the next fifteen years Tony and Fela were more or less inseparable, blending Yoruba rhythms and beats from other parts of Nigeria and Africa, with jazz and funk, to create afrobeat. Their partnership reached its zenith with Africa 70, and they recorded twenty albums together, spawning a million imitators. “There was no band like Africa 70,” Femi Kuti once told Rolling Stone magazine, “and no drummer like Tony Allen.”
When it all fell apart in the late 1970s, Tony Allen left for London and then Paris, disillusioned with the bloated court of sycophants that had encrusted itself around Fela. He could so easily have sunk under the weight of his own legend, but that was never his style. Instead he became ubiquitous, a dependable collaborator who was always ready to try something new. His score sheet is quite astounding: The Good The Bad and The Queen, Susheela Raman, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Air, Zap Mama, Damon Albarn, Flea, Jeff Mills, Oumou Sangare, not to mention his own solo albums, which have been classics of modern African music in their own right.
“You can tell a good drummer because we have four limbs, and they’re all playing different things,” Tony once said. So true, and yet so baffling. You could sit next his drum kit for hours and study his every inflection, but it wouldn’t gain you entry to that rarefied space which he occupied, one where total precision and total looseness somehow came together in a magical alchemy of rhythm, where standard rules of emphasis went out the window. No pedagogical system or notation could ever hope to do his style justice. It was beyond science, beyond thought. It was all to do with heritage, feeling, genius. “I know I can make my drums bring the house down if I have to,” he said, “But I know how to make it subtle. You listen to it like a free-flowing river.”
And that river flows on. If you tried to calculate how many people have danced to his beat, and will continue to dance to it, you’d soon run out of numbers. He gave grace to our limbs. And with that, he gave us friendship, and generosity, and a kind heart, all of which were part of the package, every time you met him.
We’ll miss you like hell, Tony. You were always such a rock, a steady beat, a dependable smile, at any Africa Express event. How many times, sitting in some rehearsal room, surrounded by musicians and friends, would we have to pinch ourselves and say, “that’s Tony Allen, playing the drums, just over there.” So many, and every one of them we can count as a blessing.
May the earth rest light upon you as you down your single malt, light up a big one and make the angels dance too.
Andy Morgan – 1st May, 2020
Africa Express confirmed for Dour Festival, Belgium - 15 July
Africa Express will be setting the opening day of Dour Festival in Belgium alight with their usual mix of radical African and non-African sounds. We’re one of four curators who are taking charge of the programming at Dour on July 15th, alongside Carl Cox, AZF and Zwangere Guy. As usual, we won’t be announcing line-ups until close to stage time. It’s all about taking a leap of faith, into the great unknown!
More info
Dour Festival line-up
Dour Festival box office
Festive greetings and big things in 2020!!!
Thanks to our friends and fellow travellers for the music, jams, laughs, love and inspiration you gave us in 2019. All the effort and faith were hugely appreciated. Hoping for more magic, more music, more of those moments in 2020!
Warmest wishes from all of us at Africa Express xxxx
EGOLI - new album - OUT NOW
We are thrilled to announce the release of EGOLI – a brand new studio album, OUT NOW, on the newly created Africa Express Records.
You can stream/download/buy here:https://africa-express.lnk.to/EGOLI
“…a collaboration to stir the senses”- The Guardian
“Egoli translates from Xhosa as “city of gold”, a fitting title for an album that offers its riches so freely” – Q Magazine
We travelled to South Africa in January last year to complete an electronic album in just 7 days, a week of discovery, collaboration and music-making. The result is EGOLI – 18 tracks capturing the fresh, joyous sounds of Afro Futurism, straight out of Johannesburg.
Featured artists include: BCUC, Blk Jks, Blue May, Damon Albarn, DJ Spoko, Dominowe, FAKA, Georgia, Ghetts, Gruff Rhys, Infamous Boiz, Mahotella Queens, Moonchild Sanelly, Morena Leraba, Mr Jukes, Muzi, Nick Zinner, Nonku Phiri, Otim Alpha, Phuzekhemisi, Poté, Radio 123, Remi Kabaka, Sho Madjozi, Sibot, Zola 7 and Zolani Mahola.
Check out the album on your favourite streaming service here: https://africa-express.lnk.to/EGOLI
Or in full on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLobHQPChwH077aHh4yeltjiuMzPu9KrDI
EGOLI - new album announcement
We are thrilled to announce the release of EGOLI – a brand new studio album, coming on the 12th July 2019, on the newly created Africa Express Records.
You can pre-order here:https://africa-express.lnk.to/EGOLI
We travelled to South Africa in January last year to complete an electronic album in just 7 days, a week of discovery, collaboration and music-making. The result is EGOLI – 18 tracks capturing the fresh, joyous sounds of Afro Futurism, straight out of Johannesburg.
Featured artists include: BCUC, Blk Jks, Blue May, Damon Albarn, DJ Spoko, Dominowe, FAKA, Georgia, Ghetts, Gruff Rhys, Infamous Boiz, Mahotella Queens, Moonchild Sanelly, Morena Leraba, Mr Jukes, Muzi, Nick Zinner, Nonku Phiri, Otim Alpha, Phuzekhemisi, Poté, Radio 123, Remi Kabaka, Sho Madjozi, Sibot, Zola 7 and Zolani Mahola.
Check out the first four tracks below which you can get straight away when you pre-order the album here: https://africa-express.lnk.to/EGOLI
Remembering Marco
It was with a terrible sadness and shock we received the news that our friend and fellow passenger Marc-Antoine Moreau had died on Wednesday in Paris, of complications arising from malaria. He was taken away from us just when his life was entering a beautiful new phase, with a new job in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, as head of Universal Africa – the kind of challenge that animated Marco’s dreams. He loved Africa and African music like birds love the air, never feeling better than when he was standing in a ramshackle bar in the downtown bustle of some great African city, ice-cold local beer in his hand, cig between his fingers, checking out new talent.
As one of the founders and key movers of Africa Express, Marco lived and breathed the principle that African music, art and culture shouldn’t be ghettoised or patronised but rather nurtured with respect. He was a sterling presence at our events, always astute in his musical judgement and suggestions – and always up for the craic. The list of bands he managed or helped in some major way is truly astounding. It starts with Amadou and Mariam of course, but also includes Cheick Tidiane Seck, Mamani Keita, Mo DJ, Jupiter and Okwess, K’naan, Chérif M’Baw, Mounir Troudi, Songhoy Blues and so many more. Cities like Bamako and Kinshasa were almost second homes to him, loving to buzz around bars and neighbourhoods on a moped in search of music, people and life.
Above all, he was a dependable friend. He might have scaled rare heights in his chosen profession, and hob-nobbed with stars and luminaries, but he was always there with a hug, an idea and a huge bucket full of inspiration and enthusiasm. We will miss him terribly, richer as we all are for all the music, the good times, the laughter, the love that he gave us.
Marco…notre ami…may the groove be loud and funky in your heaven, and may the earth rest light upon you here below…
Blick Bassy Headline UK Tour - Union Chapel Nov 17th
Cameroonian singer and guitarist Blick Bassy brings material from his latest album ‘Akö’ to the UK for a week. Released on french label No Format, ‘Akö’ is inspired by American Blues artist Skip James and features Blick singing in Bassa (one of Cameroon’s 260 native languages). Blick brings his live set to venues around the UK, performing with Johan Blanc on trombone and Clément Petit on cello, alongside his own distinctive falsetto, guitar and banjo. The headline tour kicks off with a special performance as part of The London Folk and Roots Festival at London’s Union Chapel on 17th November (tickets here)
Watch a new live version of Ndjè Yèm’ for a taste of what to expect:
See below for tour dates and ticket info:
Fri 17 November LONDON Union Chapel
Sat 18 November LEEDS Headrow House
Sun 19 November GALLOWAY Catstrand
Mon 20 November GLASGOW The Hug & Pint
Tues 21 November NORWICH Norwich Arts Centre
Fri 24 November BRISTOL Bristol Playhouse
Sat 25 November LIVERPOOL Philharmonic
Africa Express Presents…Terry Riley’s In C Mali in Paris May 21st
We’re glad to bring Africa Express presents… In C Mali to Louis Vuitton Foundation’s Nuit Européene des Musées. This African version of the Terry Riley classic was first conceived following our 2013 trip to Bamako’s Maison Des Jeunes. It brings together contemporary composer André de Ridder and 16 different musicians playing instruments as diverse as kora, balafon, guitar, peul flute, delta harp, riti, kalimbas and more. In keeping with Riley’s instructions, the performance is partially improvised. Each instrumentalist is free to chose the number of times they repeat one of the 53 short phrases which make up the piece. This creates an unending musical kaleidoscope.
Andre De Ridder will be joined by the exceptional Cheick Diallo (flute), Hawa Kasse Mady of Trio Da Kali (vocalist) and guitarists Romeo Stodart (The Magic Numbers) and Bryce Dessner (The National). This will be the first performance of the piece since Summer of 2016 when we brought In C Mali to Nuits Des Fourvieres and Holland Fest.
Africa Express Presents… In C Mali takes place on Sunday 21st May at 5pm Fondation Louis Vuitton, tickets here
Watch the debut performance of In C Mali in the Turbine Gallery at Tate Modern in London, Nov 2014.
Header Photo by Lol Willems