Tony Allen & The Afrika 70 — Progress
Progress · 1977
Label: Afrodisia · Genre: Funk / Afrobeat · Country: Nigeria · From: Lagos, West Africa
Tony Allen was Fela Kuti's drummer for fifteen years — the man who invented Afrobeat's rhythmic language, the engine behind every record Fela made in the 1970s. Progress was Allen's first solo album without Fela, recorded in 1977 while still playing with the Afrika 70. It sounds like someone who has been underneath a singer for a decade finally stepping into the light. The drumming is still there — polyrhythmic, tight, driving — but the arrangements are leaner, the politics are Allen's own. Brian Eno called him the greatest drummer in the world.
Did you know: Fela Kuti took sole songwriting credit on most of the records Tony Allen played on, and Allen received little financial compensation despite being the band's musical architect. It was only in his later career — working with Damon Albarn, Hugh Masekela, and producing solo records — that Allen received recognition as a composer in his own right. He died in 2020, aged 79.
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