Legendary Nigerian drummer, Tony Allen, and a co-founder of the Afrobeat music genre have passed on.
According to his manager, Eric Trosset, Tony died in Paris on Thursday 30th April 2020 aged 79, and the cause of his death is still unknown.
Allen was the drummer and musical director of musician Fela Kuti’s famous band “Africa 70” in the 1960-70s.
Kuti, who died in 1997, once said that “without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat”.
UK musician Brian Eno also described Allen as “perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived”.
Allen’s career and life story were documented in his 2013 autobiography “Tony Allen: Master Drummer of Afrobeat”.
Afrobeat combines elements of West Africa’s fuji music and highlife styles with American funk and jazz.
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Allen, who was born in Lagos in 1940, taught himself how to play the drums when he was 18.
He said he learned his technique by mimicking American jazz drummer Max Roach.
Allen first met Fela Kuti in 1964, and they went on to record dozens of albums for the ” Africa 70″ band.
These albums include “Gentleman ” and “Zombie” released in 1973 and 1976 respectively.
Allen left the band in 1979, after reported rifts with Kuti over royalties. Kuti had to recruit four separate drummers to fill the void he left behind.
Allen moved to London in 1984 and later moved to Paris.
Tony Allen before his death, collaborated with a number of artists during his long music career and was the drummer in “The Good, the Bad & the Queen” with Damon Albarn, Paul Simenon, and Simon Tong.
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