An entertainingly diverse and creative posthumous album bringing together recordings by the great drummer and Afrobeat pioneer and friend of Femi Kuti, here matched here with guests from soul to hip hop, including Sampa The Great, Skepta, Damon Albarn, and Lava La Rue. Producer Vincent Taeger remarks that his friend and mentor "was a teacher without speaking ... a drummer and a guardian, with a great artistic vision and that vision filled the songs even after he had left us." And writer Ben Okri, who is also just as full of admiration, and adds spoken vocals on the wonderful Cosmosis with Skepta and Damian Albarn (previously featured as our Song of the Day), says that Tony “wanted the album to be open to the energies of a new generation... but like a great mathematician or scientist who found a code of for a new world, with just a few beats, he created this extraordinary canvas." And so the other standouts on this canvas where Allen’s drumming and rhythms create a complementary blend include Sampa The Great’s scurrying rapping style on Stumbling Down, the Afrobeat-rich mix with LA’s Tsunami on Très Magnifique, Mau Mau with Nah Eeto with great bass line, and One Inna Million with Lava La Rue, a fabulous funk-soul track with socio-political content. The drumming, of course, is outstanding throughout. A very fine tribute, and hopefully it won’t be the last. Out on Blue Note.
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