In 1984, Allen moved to London, and by the turn of the millennium had settled in Paris. The British musician and producer Brian Eno has called Allen “perhaps the greatest drummer who ever lived”. ” As part of Kuti’s band, he would sometimes drum for six hours without a break. Effortless – that’s what I tried to catch from. In 1969, touring the US for the first time with Kuti, a meeting with west coast jazz drummer Frank Butler inspired him to practise every morning on pillows, making his sticks bounce off them while he was rolling. “Latin American, African horns, jazz, highlife … you had to be able to play it all because in the club they asked for it,” he said. He has attributed his versatility to the need to make a living as a jobbing musician in Lagos in the early 60s. Gilles Peterson April 30, 2020īorn in Lagos in 1940, Allen taught himself to play drums at the age of 18, drawing inspiration from the US jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, as well as contemporary African music. If you caress your wife, you’ll get good things from your wife if you beat her, up I’m sure she’ll be your enemy.”Īrtists including Major Lazer, Gilles Peterson and Flea have paid tribute to Allen on Twitter. Of his singular style, Allen said: “I try to make my drums sing and turn them into an orchestra. Such was the hole that Allen left in his band, Kuti required several drummers to replace him. “Few people have the kind of communication that Fela and I had when we played music,” Allen said.Īllen and Kuti recorded about 40 albums as Africa ’70, before parting ways after a mythic, 26-year collaboration, with Allen citing Kuti’s disorganisation and debts to him as the reason for his departure. Over Allen’s thrilling beat, Kuti laid out his revolutionary and pan-African message, which led him to become one of the abiding icons of the struggle for freedom across the continent. Afrobeat went on to become one of the totemic genres of 20th-century African music. During that time the pair created Afrobeat, combining west African musical styles such as highlife and fuji music with US jazz and funk. Allen was the drummer and musical director of Fela Kuti’s band, Africa ’70, in the 60s and 70s.
0 kommentar(er)
