Breaks: Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen

Jimi Tenor & Tony Allen
Inspiration Information, Vol. 4
(Strut Recoreds, 2009)
http://www.strut-records.com/

Strut Records had a good idea: pairing two unrelated musicians and seeing what happens. In the past, the label has set up Horace Andy with Ashley Beedle, so why not Jimmi Tenor (who you may or may not know from his ’94 track “Take Me Baby") and Tony Allen (who you should know as Fela Kuti’s drummer). The pairing is an odd one, certainly. But given the fact that Allen’s musical proclivities take center stage, it’s a safe bet that success is on the horizon as well as some funky African stuffs.

Well, success on the instrumental sections of the disc, at least.

“Path to Wisdom” comes off as some hyper-literate spoken word piece by emcee Allonymous and when Tenor sings on other tracks, for the most part it’s cheese filled mayhem. That being said, on “Selfish Gene” as the band grinds out a slinky funk, Tenor goes in with a false setto and comes through the other side like lost soul star. It’s certainly not the only high point – the engaging horn progressions on “Sinhue” being another success musically – but Tenor’s fleeting ability to affect his performance for the good of the ensemble enriches the track. Why just here, though

More danceable stuff is spread out over the rest of the hour long offering, it’s just hard to get through some of the vocal cuts. Beyond all that, though, who that it was alright to rip off Shuggie Otis for the title of the album…Really.