When you are rightly praised as the greatest drummer Africa has produced, and helped to create Afrobeat along with Fela Kuti, then there’s no need for indulgent solos. At 74, Tony Allen has released his 10th album, a cool, contemporary set dominated, of course, by relaxed, subtle and insistent percussion. His laid-back voice dominates the first two tracks here: the glorious light and slinky Moving On, and Boat Journey, a warning about the dangers facing illegal migrants. This theme is repeated in Go Back, one of two tracks he co-wrote with Damon Albarn, who provides lead vocals and keyboards on a powerful, drifting ballad. Elsewhere, there’s a bluesy song from the US-based Nigerian singer Kuku, and rousing, brass-backed funk from the Nigerian female vocal group Adunni and Nefertiti, driven on by a master-drummer still in glorious form.
