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Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen dies aged 79

Published 01/05/2020, 09:21
Updated 01/05/2020, 09:24
Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen dies aged 79

LAGOS, May 1 (Reuters) - Nigerian drummer and composer Tony
Allen, who worked closely with musician Fela Kuti as a pioneer
of the Afrobeat genre, died in Paris aged 79, his manager said.
The Afrobeat sound, which rose to prominence in Nigeria in
the 1970s, combined organ riffs with West African drum patterns
and brass instruments. Allen's drumming was a key part of the
rhythmic structure that underpinned the fusion of jazz, funk and
West African melodies.
Allen died on Wednesday evening in Paris of a heart attack,
National Public Radio (NPR) cited his manager Eric Trosset as
saying on Thursday.
"Farewell Tony! Your eyes saw what most couldn't see. You
are the coolest person on Earth! As you used to say, "There is
no end," Trosset said in a tribute posted on Facebook.
Allen recorded more than 30 albums with Kuti and his group,
Africa '70, which fused jazz, funk and African traditional
singing.
The songs were usually over 10 minutes long and Kuti's
lyrics were often angry diatribes against corruption, African
dictators and Nigeria's military regimes.
Kuti, who died in 1997, once said that "without Tony Allen,
there would be no Afrobeat".
In later years Allen worked with a broad range of artists
including musician Brian Eno who referred to Allen "perhaps the
greatest drummer who has ever lived".
Reuters could not immediately reach Allen's manager for
comment.


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