Fela’s Drummer Tony Allen Dies In Paris

 Nigerian composer and drummer, Tony Allen, who worked with Fela Kuti as a pioneer of the Afrobeat genre, has died in Paris at 79. 
His manager, Eric Trosset, said that Allen died on Wednesday evening in Paris of a heart attack.

Trosset in a facebook tribute said, “Farewell Tony! Your eyes saw what most couldn’t see. You are the coolest person on Earth! As you used to say… There is no end.”

Advertisement

Afrobeat became prominent in Nigeria in the 1970s, while  Allen’s drumming pattern was a key to the rhythmic structure that stimulated the combination of West African beats, jazz and funk.
 
Allen was instrumental in Kuti’s career, recording over 30 albums with the group, Africa ‘70.

Kuti had died in 1997 and  once said that “without Tony Allen, there would be no Afrobeat”.

Allen also worked with artists like Brian Eno who described him as  “perhaps the greatest drummer who has ever lived”.

Leave a comment

Advertisement