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Afrobeat

Tony Allen

I’m Looking Forward To Seeing Tony Allen Next Week

Next Thursday I’ll be going to see Tony Allen playing in London, at the Village Underground in Shoreditch. I guess he’ll be playing a bunch of stuff from his new album, Film Of Life, which sounds great. I’m really looking forward to seeing him play since I’ve spent a chunk of the last year or so trying to do what he does. I love his loose and energetic playing and his amazing touch. Something I am finding particularly challenging is… Read More »I’m Looking Forward To Seeing Tony Allen Next Week

This Is The First Afrobeat Drum Groove According To Tony Allen

And I suppose he’d know something about it… I highly recommend watching both of the following videos. The audio is not fantastic but there is a demonstration of some typical Highlife drumming and how he added a left foot hihat on the 2 & 4 and then he shows us the first groove of Afrobeat. When I first tried playing Afrobeat, I found that playing 16ths on the kick on 1 and 1e and 3 and 3e is particularly challenging… Read More »This Is The First Afrobeat Drum Groove According To Tony Allen

Free Streaming of Fela Kuti Albums

I just discovered that a load of Fela Kuti albums have been made available to stream on Bandcamp. This is a great opportunity to listen to an amazing collection of music. Since I have been discovering Afrobeat and Tony Allen’s drumming in particular, I will be trying to hear as much of this stuff as I can. When I first found the Bandcamp page I clicked on the first item that caught my eye, an album called Teacher Don’t Teach… Read More »Free Streaming of Fela Kuti Albums

More Afrobeat – Tony Allen’s Groove on Fela’s Go Slow

I have been dawdling about with this and Miles Arntzen’s fab article in January’s Modern Drummer has reminded me to keep going with my learning about Afrobeat and Tony Allen’s drumming in particular. Music is The Weapon Of The Future is an album I’ve been listening to quite a bit. On the track Go Show Allen’s juxtaposition of lightness and fearsome groove is almost too much to bear. I have been trying to get the feel of this track right… Read More »More Afrobeat – Tony Allen’s Groove on Fela’s Go Slow

What I?m Listening To This Week

I’m never far away from a bit of Lowell George, one of the greatest singers and songwriters in the universe. Here is a fantastic track from his only solo album, Thanks I’ll Eat It Here which is a mixed bag, something typical of the great man’s recorded output. The album has an incredible line up of the who’s who of 70’s session cats. The drummers include Jims Keltner & Gordon, Richie Hayward, Floyd Sneed and Jeff Porcaro who is laying… Read More »What I?m Listening To This Week

What I’m Listening To This Week

What with getting into Afrobeat and, obviously, the fantastic drumming that comes with it, I have had some Fela Kuti in my earplugs this week. Tony Allen is playing some very busy stuff, variating in every bar and at the same time driving the groove without any bumps. Once I’ve soaked this stuff up some more, I am going to write down my thoughts on learning to play in this style. There doesn’t seem to be too much material in… Read More »What I’m Listening To This Week

What I’m Listening To This Week

I have been slowly discovering Afrobeat. The grooves are mental. There seems to be a lot of improvising, weird snare patterns and generally the kind of independence I associate with playing Latin music. I started listening to some stuff by Fela Kuti whose drummer, Tony Allen is considered to be a pioneer of the Afrobeat style of drumming. Back in the days of my misspent youth I remember Fela’s music being popular among people I knew but it didn’t draw… Read More »What I’m Listening To This Week

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