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Drummer Tony Allen is widely hailed as one of the founders of Afrobeat, alongside his longtime musical partner Fela Kuti. The 79-year-old Allen died Wednesday evening in Paris of a heart attack. NPR's Anastasia Tsioulcas has this appreciation.
ANASTASIA TSIOULCAS, BYLINE: Sitting behind his drum kit, Tony Allen used his whole body to lay out intricate polyrhythms with all four limbs.
(SOUNDBITE OF FELA KUTI'S "EXPENSIVE S***")
TSIOULCAS: Allen didn't begin playing drums until he was 18 years old. But just months later, he became a professional musician. Allen met Fela Kuti in the early 1960s in Lagos, Nigeria. And in 1969, they formed the legendary band Africa 70.
(SOUNDBITE OF FELA KUTI'S "ZOMBIE")
TSIOULCAS: Allen wasn't just the band's drummer; he was its musical director, layering horns and soaring vocals, often with highly political lyrics over a driving groove.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ZOMBIE")
FELA KUTI: (Singing in non-English language).
TSIOULCAS: In 1979, Allen left the band in part because he felt he wasn't being recognized and compensated for his contributions. But he continued to be a musical adventurer, dipping into everything from afro funk to electronica. His last album was released only last month. It's a collaboration with the late South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela.
(SOUNDBITE OF TONY ALLEN AND HUGH MASEKELA'S "ROBBERS, THUGS AND MUGGERS (O'GALAJANI)")
TSIOULCAS: Some of Tony Allen's own music was explicitly political, but he believed in rejoicing in the small things of life, too, as he told NPR in 2010.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
TONY ALLEN: Celebration is everything. That's the way we look at it. It's like, every day we celebrate.
TSIOULCAS: It's a message he delivered through his exuberant music for more than five decades.
Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR News, New York.
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