Top muso rejoices in Masekela album

WHEN Tony Allen learnt of the death of legendary South African musician Hugh Masekela, it left him distraught.

Apart from enjoying a close friendship with Masekela, the Nigerian musician was completing an album with the iconic jazz trumpeter, when Masekela died in 2018.

“I was a great admirer of his music and on a personal level, I was even more saddened as we never managed to finish our album together,” said Allen from his home in Paris.

The two had talked about doing an album together ever since they first met in the 1970s, thanks to their respective close associations with Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.

They eventually got the opportunity in 2010, when their touring schedules coincided in the UK. Producer Nick Gold took the opportunity to record their encounter.

The project was left unfinished, but after

Masekela’s death, Allen and Gold, with the permission of the musician’s estate, dug up the original recordings and finished the album last year, in the same London studio where they started recording nine years earlier.

Now Allen’s dream has finally come to fruition. The album, Masekela’s first posthumous release is set for release on March 20.

Allen, a drummer, composer and songwriter, is thrilled. “Ten years is a long time from the beginning to end of (making) an album, but my own philosophy is that everything eventually appears at the right time for a reason.”

Allen spent two days in the studio with Masekela recording for the album Rejoice.

“It was really great working with Hugh. There was no plan at all. I had a great time recording with him, he has such a distinguishable signature and was such a great improviser.” |