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Fela Kuti

More Tony Allen – Fela’s Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense

Important Addendum: The drummer on this album is not Tony Allen, I shoud have checked the credits. It was made after Tony Allen left Fela Kuti’s band. In a recent post I linked to the Fela Kuti Bandcamp Account. I was immediately drawn to the album called Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense and was delighted to hear the album’s title track open with the same groove that my first Afrobeat related post about Ariya Astrobeat’s African Kings has in its… Read More »More Tony Allen – Fela’s Teacher Don’t Teach Me Nonsense

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

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