Tony Allen

afrofunk // jazz

The opening to “Too Many Prisoners (Elewon Po)” sounds like it could be taken right off an Isaac Hayes record (one extremely well-known one in particular…), which is funny because Hayes is one of the few people not commonly listed as an Allen influence (viz. Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, James Brown, Fela Kuti, etc.). After that, though, the Shaft theme is quickly dropped for something more like Pucho Brown: a breezy, carefree collection of bass, vocals, and the drumming for which Allen is most renowned. The single was released May 11 and is available on iTunes; the album (Secret Agent) comes out June 8. (We also covered some of Tony’s other work way back in August 2007.)

Bright and flavorful
Tony Allen ““ Too Many Prisoners (Elewon Po)
+ Purchase/Visit

Posted by Andrew Ladd on Friday, May 22nd, 2009 under funk, global, jazz, soul.

3 Responses to “Tony Allen”

  1. This Music Sucks said on May 23rd at 11:19 am :

    Now that its finally warming up here in NYC you’ve supplied the perfect groove for a mojito in the sun!

  2. Eide said on June 22nd at 1:47 pm :

    If anyone’s going to the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, I can tell, that Tony’s playing there! Just a bit of information :)

  3. Julie said on June 27th at 8:43 pm :

    I need to find this on vinyl…

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