Journal

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  • Monday,April 11,2011
    nothing

    Legendary AfroBeat drummer Tony Allen will be the guest on WNYC's Soundcheck today. He will talk with the show's host, John Schaefer, and perform songs from his album Secret Agent. "The great Nigerian bandleader Fela Kuti had a not-so-secret weapon when he was creating the funk-infused style known as Afrobeat in the 1970s," says WNYC. "That weapon was drummer Tony Allen. A legend among drummers of all styles, Allen is still going strong." Allen launches a North American tour this week with special guest Amp Fiddler.

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Artist News, Radio
  • Wednesday,October 27,2010
    nothing

    Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen and ngoni master Bassekou Kouyate will be the guests on today's episode of NPR's World Cafe. Allen made his World Circuit / Nonesuch debut with the release of Secret Agent earlier this year. Kouyate performs on the album AfroCubism, due out this Tuesday. The latter album is featured on AOL Spinner, which that traces its roots back to the recording sessions that launched Buena Vista Social Club.

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Radio
  • Monday,June 21,2010
    nothing

    Tony Allen has concluded his North American tour with music from his latest album, Secret Agent. The album is featured on NPR's Fresh Air and Afrobeat, which continues to thrive after all these years. "The prime living player to thank for this is Allen, who has keeping up the good work all along," says Fresh Air. "His newest solo album is called Secret Agent, and it sounds like the most fully rounded version of Tony Allen Afrobeat he's ever made."

    Journal Topics:
  • Wednesday,June 16,2010
    nothing

    Tony Allen's North American tour returns to New York City for a two-day stretch featuring two free outdoor performances plus the late-night Jump 'n' Funk at (Le) Poisson Rouge. Allen's recent show in Chicago was a critic's choice for Chicago Reader, which says: "Allen merges James Brown funk with jazz, highlife, and traditional West African rhythms, and his calling card is a doubled-up kick-drum accent that's weighted like a heartbeat, pinning his grooves solidly to the earth no matter how intricate his syncopations and permutations get up top."

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Reviews
  • Thursday,June 10,2010
    nothing

    Tune in to watch legendary drummer Tony Allen on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tonight, sitting in with the show's house band, The Roots. He kicks off a week-long North American tour this weekend. The A.V. Club says Allen's new album, Secret Agent, "expertly blends jazz, funk, and rock into earthbound extraterrestrial jams." It is "an undisputed fact of science that Allen," insists Time Out, "ranks among the globe’s funkiest residents."

    Journal Topics: On Tour, Television
  • Thursday,May 27,2010
    nothing

    Tony Allen's Secret Agent is a "brilliant" and "splendid album," says PopMatters, which rates it a 9 out of 10. Given his seminal role in the creation of Afrobeat, Allen "is a deservedly legendary figure in popular music history," yet remains "very much a figure of the present," as with the new album. Secret Agent "showcases Allen’s distinctive drumming style," says PopMatters, "and represents his considerable skills as a producer and arranger."

    Journal Topics: Reviews
  • Wednesday,May 26,2010
    nothing

    Tony Allen, who made his World Circuit / Nonesuch Records debut with the release of his new album, Secret Agent, last month, will perform on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on June 10, the show has just confirmed. The Late Night performance will kick off the legendary drummer's North American tour, which includes sets in Toronto, Madison, Chicago, Cambridge, New York, City, Brooklyn, Seattle, and Boonville, California.

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Television
  • Tuesday,May 25,2010
    nothing

    Tony Allen's Secret Agent was named a CD Pick of the Week by WNYC's Soundcheck. Allen "leads a crack ensemble, and even sings on a song or two," says host John Schaefer. "But it's his drumming, a fiery blend of West African percussion and James Brown funk, that propels you headlong through the record." The Boston Globe, previewing Allen's forthcoming tour, says he remains "vibrant as ever."

    Journal Topics: Artist News, Reviews
  • Monday,May 17,2010
    nothing

    Tony Allen's latest album, Secret Agent, was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday. Allen discusses the new album and his storied career in music, not least his partnership with Fela Kuti. "Together, they basically invented an entirely new genre, Afrobeat," says host Rebecca Roberts. The show examines his early influences, what inspires him now, and how his music can run from the political to the purely celebratory.

    Journal Topics: Radio
  • Tuesday,May 11,2010
    nothing

    Tony Allen and his new album, Secret Agent, were recently featured on PRI's The World. Allen discusses his role as "the man who put the beat in Afrobeat," his work with Fela Kuti, and in the many other musical idioms in which he has proven himself to be at home. The Cleveland Plain Dealer gives Secret Agent an A, saying of Allen: "On Secret Agent, his authoritative rhythms propel hypnotic, horn-blasting jams that dare you not to dance."

    Journal Topics: Reviews, Radio
  • Monday,May 3,2010
    nothing

    The recently released album Secret Agent is the latest from Tony Allen, "the man who helped create Afrobeat with Fela Kuti," says NPR. Now, Nonesuch Records has partnered with the producers of FELA!, the hit Broadway musical on the life of Kuti, to offer customers who order the Secret Agent CD in the Nonesuch Store up to almost 40% off tickets to the musical the New York Times called "impossible to resist."

    Journal Topics: Artist News
  • Tuesday,April 27,2010
    nothing

    Afrobeat legend Tony Allen's new album, Secret Agent, has been featured on NPR's All Songs Considered. The album comes from "the man who helped create Afrobeat with Fela Kuti," says NPR's Robin Hilton. "Tony Allen is easily one of the most gifted and influential percussionists of all time. He turns 70 years old this year, and his new solo album shows that he has no intention of slowing down."

    Journal Topics: Web, Radio

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