Tony Allen’s Afrobeat Tour: Secret Agent April 16, 2011

The drummer behind the legendary Nigerian bandleader Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Tony Allen is probably the most highly regarded African drum set player, with drummers and other musicians of all backgrounds marveling at his polyrhythmic style. Kuti is largely considered the most influential African popular musician of the post-colonial era, and Tony Allen was his crucial collaborator in the synthesis of jazz, funk, and highlife that resulted in the style known as Afrobeat.Born in Nigeria in 1940 of mixed Nigerian and Ghanaian parentage, Allen is influenced by everything from European ballroom dance music to big-band jazz drumming, indigenous percussion traditions, and the tradition of modern jazz drumming typified by such musicians as Art Blakey, Elvin Jones, and Max Roach. After playing for years in the shadows of better-known musicians, Tony Allen is now starting to receive the worldwide credit he deserves as one of the most dynamic players of the drum set. “Without Tony Allen, there’d be no Afrobeat.” (Fela Anikulapo Kuti)

Official Website: http://www.ums.org/s_current_season/artist.asp?pageid=629