Chicago Afrobeat Project f/ Tony Allen

with VELVET HEAT and MATHEW TEMBO
21+ / Doors at 7pm / $17 in advance / $20 day-of-show

This past summer, master drummer and Afrobeat innovator Tony Allen and Chicago Afrobeat Project (CAbP) finally collaborated after years of mutual respect and admiration. They performed to packed venues in cities across the Midwest U.S. and spent days at Chicago's Fullerton Recording Studios creating new music non-stop.

Tony Allen has never before collaborated with an American afrobeat band on a full album. So the outcome of his collaboration with Chicago Afrobeat Project -- an album with more than seven tracks -- is set to make history. Slated for release later this year or early next, the album is a work of sheer artistic and rhythmic brilliance. It will change the way afrobeat is played in America. Each track is a beautifully crafted blend of cultures, politics, musical histories, interpretations of afrobeat, and individual artistic styles.

The Paris-based Allen - original and longtime drummer for Fela Kuti - is acclaimed for injecting the "beat" into afrobeat and has released more than five solo albums over his impressive career. Recently Allen teamed with Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers and Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur) on "Rocket, Juice and the Moon" (2012), a funky album exploration of groove sketches that features Erykah Badu, Fatoumata Diawara, M.anifest, and more.

As a relentless innovator, Allen continues to blaze his musical path forward. Brian Eno once called Tony "the greatest living drummer," and Allen has also collaborated with Albarn on the studio project "The Good, the Bad and the Queen" (2007).

Chicago Afrobeat Project, a cornerstone of the North American afrobeat revitalization over the past decade has released three full-length studio albums to date including 2013's "Nyash UP!" The album features afrobeat interpretations of rock hits by Radiohead, Talking Heads and Fugazi. The band continues to tour year-round across the United States and Canada.