Have a cool, nice Sunday jazz lovers and giants and... Happy Birthday Tony Allen (76)! Its no surprise that Tony Allens Secret Agent does nothing to dim his reputation as one of the worlds greatest drummers. Hes the personification of subtlety, leading from the back and carefully pushing and prodding the music, but doing this so cleverly that half the time people dont even notice hes there. Hes certainly a man whose four limbs operate independently, setting up cross- and counter-rhythms that add extra levels of texture and complexity to the music. On Secret Agent, recorded in his native Lagos, hes joined by a number of guests (including five different vocalists), but the core musicians working with him are producer Fixi, who contributes several instruments, and Cameroonian guitarist Claude Dibongue, who works well in this framework. Its largely Afrocentric, and definitely political, in the best tradition of Allens late employer, Fela Kuti. Allen himself contributes vocals to the opening and closing tracks, showing hes more than a drummer, even if his voice is low-key. That he plays so well is remarkable. That he does it like this when hes almost 70 is amazing. https://youtube/watch?v=pD8C3UnqQIg
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 08:27:28 +0000
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