It should surprise no one who has ever followed the music of Nigerian drummer
Tony Allen and/or South African trumpeter
Hugh Masekela that this session exists. Though the great trumpeter passed away in 2018, his seven-decade-long career was filled with musical adventure across genres. For
Allen, a co-creator of Afrobeat and a true progenitor of 21st century Afro-funk, innovation, experimentation, change, and disruption have been part of the game since he began playing. They were introduced to one another by
Fela Kuti in the '70s and remained friends. The pair had talked for decades about making an album, and in 2010 they found time in between touring schedules to begin this project. Producer
Nick Gold, acclaimed for numerous world music productions including
The Buena Vista Social Club, recorded the meeting. These unfinished sessions sat untouched in the archives until
Masekela's passing. With the blessing and assistance of
Masekela's estate,
Gold and
Allen unearthed the original tapes and finished the recording in 2019 at the same London studio. They also hired London jazz mainstays in keyboardist
Joe Armon-Jones, bassists
Tom Herbert and
Mutale Chashi, and saxophonist
Steve Williamson. The brightly designed cover is a dead cross between
John Coltrane's
Ole and
Solomon Ilori's
African High Life sleeves.
What transpires is not pure Afrobeat, the relentlessly danceable music from Lagos, but instead a "chamber" version of it, alongside swinging modern jazz, spidery, skeletal funk, and South African township groove combined.
Masekela's singing, chanting, and wonderfully inventive trumpet lines blend effortlessly with
Allen's drums digging into primal source rhythms and articulating them with a maestro's flair at the center of the mix. Opener "Robbers, Thugs and Muggers" is grounded in a sung chant directed at
Allen's propulsive snare skitter and hi-hat washes. It's answered by
Masekela's bluesy horn, cutting across hard bop, jive, and folk, quoting from "Eleanor Rigby" for good measure.
Armon-Jones' Rhodes piano enters later as
Allen ratchets the intensity from a simmer to a slow boil. "Agbada Bougou" delivers a funky Afrobeat backbeat as
Masekela and
Williamson offer modal melodies atop a funky bassline. "Never (Lagos Never Gonna Be the Same)" is actually a mutant take on Afrobeat. With
Masekela chanting "Lagos never gonna be the same/Never/ Without Felaâ?¦"
Armon-Jones adds funky Rhodes over a driving electric bassline, punchy trumpet fills, hand percussion, and bubbling, snaky drums. "Jabulani (Rejoice, Here Comes Tony)" has
Armon-Jones' vibes playing counter fills around
Masekela's call-and-response phrasing and
Allen's almost mystifying circular rhythmic improvisation. "Slow Bones" spotlights a tough sax and horn dialogue. Closer and first single "We've Landed" finds
Masekela joining
Allen's ritualized, incantatory drumming by quoting
Miles Davis -- even riffing on the melodic vamp from "Black Satin" at one point -- with his bell-like tone and blues-drenched phrasing. No matter what lengths
Gold and
Allen went to, to complete
Rejoice, the core playing, and camaraderie are peerless, and therefore justified. This is a fitting postscript and testament to
Masekela's legend, and the music on this date, while historic, is absolutely defined by its title. ~ Thom Jurek
![Roforofo Fight [LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0720841206682_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Roforofo Fight [LP]")
![Confusion [LP]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0720841207016_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg "Confusion [LP]")
