Rejoice

Rejoice, the vibrant new album by Nigerian drummer Tony Allen and the late South African flugelhornist and trumpeter Hugh Masekela, has had a long road to its release. The sessions began in 2010 in London, but because of conflicting schedules, the two musicians never got around to resuming work on the project. The unfinished recordings remained in an archive until 2019, a year after Masekela's death. Then Allen and producer Nick Gold revisited the tapes and added the finishing touches Allen and Masekela had discussed—keyboard, percussion, and vocal overdubs. The final product is something Masekela no doubt would have approved, a spacious, uncluttered sound centered on drums, flugelhorn, and bass, with a saxophone on three tracks, understated keyboards, and chanted vocals by Masekela and Allen. The long-delayed release indeed is an occasion for rejoicing, while also for regret that the two master musicians only collaborated once, and never will again.

PERSONNEL:
TONY ALLEN, drums
HUGH MASEKELA, flugelhorn
MUTALE CHASHI, TOM HERBERT, bass
STEVE WILLIAMSON, tenor sax
ELLIOT GALVIN, JOE ARMON-JONES, keyboards
LEKAN BABALOLA, persussion
LEWIS WRIGHT, vibes