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Tony Allen: a spectacular celebration

13 November, LONDON Royal Festival Hall
A star-studded and spectacular celebration of Tony Allen's life and music.

Last year, the legendary afrobeat drummer Tony Allen passed away at the age of 79, leaving behind an extraordinary body of work. Here we celebate his musical legacy.

The show is curated by four major artists with deep personal connections to ‘uncle Tony’; long-time collaborator Damon Albarn (Blur / Gorillaz / Africa Express / The Good, the Bad and the Queen), the UK jazz scene’s blazing drummer Femi Koleoso (Ezra Collective / Gorillaz), who studied with Tony while perfecting his craft; poet-novelist-storyteller Ben Okri, and producer Remi Kabaka (Gorillaz / Africa Express), who knew Tony since a small child. They will perform with an electrifying line-up to celebrate the continual innovation and diverse output of one of the most important artists of the last century.

He was working on music right up until the end and had been preparing the new album There Is No End, out now on Blue Note Records. He said, “I want to take care of youngsters – they have messages and I want to bring them on my beat.”

Allen’s impulse behind the album was to work with a younger generation of artists, particularly rappers, and he laid down tracks with Skepta and Sampa The Great, among others.

‘A full-blown love letter to the truest of his many passions: the boundless possibilities of collaboration within modern music. It feels like a passing of the baton onto the next generation.’

(★★★★☆ Music OMH)

An incredible and fitting legacy; an album that is a musical triumph, one that is ground-breaking and thrilling.

Melody Maker

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