Recorded in 1975 and 1977, Jealousy and Progress were the first two records Tony Allen released under his own name. He served as composer and arranger, with Fela producing and sharing arrangement credits. Although Fela’s presence (on sax and occasional vocals) lends some potency to the music, in general it is not very emotionally charged. “Jealousy” is a light jam with exciting, pulsating bass drum kicks; it is followed by the more earnest “Hustler,” whose riff closely resembles Fela’s “Don’t Worry About My Mouth O (African Message).” “Progress” opens the second album with an intense groove and an emphatic cry for progress, which is balanced by the dark yet perky “Afro Disco Beat.” Probably, most listeners will eventually view this music as little more than an interesting supplement to Fela’s catalog, but it certainly stands on its own merits…..by Jim Smith….~
Africa ‘70 - Fela Kuti’s band - back genius drummer Tony Allen on a couple of instrumental solo tracks. Unsurprisingly the result sounds very much like Fela Kuti but without Fela singing. It’s very much in the afro-funk style rather than Afro-Beat.
The best of Fela’s output should, of course, be your first stop but this is well worth investigating once you’ve exhausted his top-ranking releases. …blowout ….~
Jealousy’ is according to many still the highlight of the legendary drummer’s 4 solo-albums featuring 2 afro-beat gems 'jealousy’ & 'hustler’.
'jealousy’ is the first of the 3 solo albums by tony allen produced by fela kuti. in 1975 tony allen, the band-leader of afrika 70, got an opportunity to rehearse his compositions together with rest of the afrika 70. this ended up in his first record which was initially released on the private imprint soundworkshop records. part of the tony allen reissue series on kindred spirits, featuring remastered versions & original restored artwork. a must for afro-beat fans around the globe…..~
We are proud to announce the third release of the Tony Allen & Africa 70 (Disco Afro Series): featuring remastered original versions of “Jealousy” and remixes produced by Loya (Reunion Island).
Multi-instrumentalist, initially playing jazz as well as African music, Sébastien Lejeune discovered electronic music when he was living in mainland France. This was the golden age of Warp Records figureheads IDM who had a huge effect on him, in particular the naïve melodies of Plaid and Boards from Canada. During a trip back to his homeland Sébastien became Loya. From that moment on, he started to mix Réunion maloya, Mauritian séga and Indian music with footwork tempo. He blends traditional maloya drums, beatboxes and synths, harmonizing the powerful vocals of Indian Ocean Island singers.
“Tony Allen Afrobeat groove inspired me a lot to create the patterns with my drums machines which is the basic of my production work. The Indian Ocean Rhythms formerly coming from Africa recover the true sense on this beats.”
In 1975, Tony Allen recorded his debut album, Jealousy, the first of three made with Afrika 70 and produced by Fela Kuti. Jealousy is according to many still the highlight of his 4 solo-albums, featuring 2 afro-beat gems “Jealousy” and “Hustler”. Recorded at Decca’s 16 track Abule-Oja studio in Lagos, Nigeria. Originally released on Soundworkshop Records in 1975….~
Credits
Drums – Tony Allen (tracks: A)
Piano – Fela Kuti (tracks: A)
Saxophone – Fela Kuti (tracks: A)
Songwriter – Shina Abiodun (tracks: A)
Tracklist
A Jealousy
B Hustler