Features
A Conversation with Tony Allen
Loading ...
Conversely, Allen added a hip hop element to his own sound on his 2002 album ‘Home Cooking.’ In collaboration with UK musicians including rapper Ty (whose parents moved to England from Nigeria) and Blur front man and Gorillaz architect Damon Albarn, Allen adds another element to the combination of afrobeat, the sound of the London streets. And Ty’s smooth flow punches within Allen’s rhythmic framework effortlessly.
Allen has stamped his contemporary influence far beyond hip hop. He has worked like a quasi-session musician, called upon by those who need to nod heads and move feet. During the past two decades he has laid his groove down across a variety of genres, working with musicians that range from Groove Armada to Grace Jones. He has linked up with French electronic acts Air and Sebastian Tellier and produced for indie-pop poster girl Charlotte Gainsborg.
Allen began a close friendship and creative association with Damon Albarn after hearing the Blur lyric “Tony Allen got me dancing,” on 2000’s Music is My Radar. After Albarn’s appearance on ‘Home Cooking’ and the two joined with Clash bassist Paul Simonon, former Verve multi-instrumentalist Simon Tong and Dangermouse as part of Albarn’s most recent supergroup for the album ‘The Good, The Bad and The Queen.’
Allen attributes the accessibility of his style to his work ethic and the celebration of his personality in his music.
“I work hard and I am myself. I play like myself. I don’t play like anybody. I play like myself.
If you write me to come play on one of your tracks or whatever, I am not going to play what I know. I am going to play what the music brings. That means I have to extract that.
I listen to the music of the people and I extract what the drums are supposed to be doing.”
When pressed about his experience during his contemporary creative experiences it was obvious Allen enjoys his position as teacher and it was he who was dropping the knowledge.
“I don’t learn nothing. I give. I’m not learning there. I am giving what I have. I don’t learn nothing.”
Tony Allen has stayed fresh for almost 50 years and he continues to approach making music with originality whilst retaining his trademark sound. Every day is taken as it comes and although he retains a distinct connection with the tradition of afrobeat Allen is focused on the now.
“I am not someone who talks about what they are doing, you know? I don’t want people asking questions about what I am doing. When I am there and I have decided to do something I do it. That’s the way it comes to me. I cannot tell you that yesterday I was thinking about how I would do it today. No. So today when I am there I do it.
I am thinking about today. Now. Here.”
And while Fela is being resurrected on Broadway, Allen is focused on continuing his own legacy. He remains happy to take a back seat and let the music speak for him. And his drums stay loquacious. Tony prefers to choose his words carefully.
“If I have anything to say I say it. Simple as that.”
Pages: 1 2
Simon is a regular contributor to Deft Magazine and active in the hip hop community in Paris. He earned his Bachelors of Law and Arts from New Zealand's University of Otago, Simon was also a DJ on Radio One Dunedin, in Otago, New Zealand.
You might also like
|
|
|
|
|
