Tony Allen
Film of Life (Jazz Village, 2014)
A drummer and musical director for Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s band Africa 70 for more than 10 years and solo recordings Home Cooking, Secret Agent, Black Voices Revisited, Lagos No Shaking and No Discrimination with the Afro Messengers to his credit, Lago-born, afrobeat master and percussionist Tony Allen has cornered cool, leashed it and made it his devoted servant on his latest Film of Life, out on the Jazz Village label.
Teaming up with producers The Jazzbastards, along with musicians like Damon Albarn, Cesar Anot, Ludovic Bruni and Vincent Taeger, Mr. Allen whips up a big, bold sound that’s savagely hip and edgily artful.
Mr. Allen stirs up the musical air on Film of Life with transformative mix of bebop, afrobeat jazz and psychedelic pop that incorporates flashes of funk and those familiar Nigerian rhythms that recall his Fela Kuti days to conjure up an engaging hybridization. Right from the get-go, Film of Life dazzles with the high octane opening track “Moving On.” Grounded by a kickass groove, this track swims in a sea of brass, bass, tenor guitar and some dishy backing vocals by Audrey Gbaguidi with Mr. Allen taking the lead vocals and congas.
The music moves into the thick and meaty richness of “Boat Journey” with Cesar Anot on bass, rhythm guitar by Ludovic Bruni, percussion by Vincent Taeger and backing vocals by Ms. Gbaguidi and Sandra Nkake with Mr. Allen again taking the lead. “Tiger’s Skip” gets a dose of melodica by Damon Albarn, while tracks like “Afro Kungfu Beat” and “Koko Dance” run thick with bass and guitar lines.
Equally good are tracks like “Go Back” with Damon Albarn on synths, piano and lead vocals, the brass soaked “Ire Omo” with Adunni and Nefretiti on vocals and the slick hipness of “African Man” with Laurent Bardainne on tenor sax, Antoine Giraud on trombone, Nicolas Giraud on trumpet and Yan Jankielewicz on baritone sax. Film of Life closes with the sultry “Tony Wood” with Kuku on vocals and the familiar brass, bass and guitar threads that have worked their way through the recording.
Tony Allen puts a delicious bite on afrobeat, lending it some jazz, funk and psychedelic edges that ratchet up Film of Life to push it beyond just afrobeat, giving it a savvy, sophisticated and distinct bent. Film of Life is striking and gratifying.
Author: TJ Nelson
TJ Nelson is a regular CD reviewer and editor at World Music Central. She is also a fiction writer. Check out her latest book, Chasing Athena’s Shadow.
Set in Pineboro, North Carolina, Chasing Athena’s Shadow follows the adventures of Grace, an adult literacy teacher, as she seeks to solve a long forgotten family mystery. Her charmingly dysfunctional family is of little help in her quest. Along with her best friends, an attractive Mexican teacher and an amiable gay chef, Grace must find the one fading memory that holds the key to why Grace’s great-grandmother, Athena, shot her husband on the courthouse steps in 1931.
Traversing the line between the Old South and New South, Grace will have to dig into the past to uncover Athena’s true crime.
