"(...) Recorded at Lovelite Studios in Berlin during November 2008 with further sessions in Finland and Paris, the Tenor / Allen collaboration whipped up a raw, heavy analogue sound mixing the full range of Allen’s Afrobeat repertoire with Tenor’s off-kilter brew of dark humour, tongue-in-cheek lyrics and tight, firing musicianship. The sessions involved key members of Tenor’s Kabu Kabu band and Berlin-based guest MC Allonymous with tracks evolving naturally from jamming ideas together over five intense days of recording, fuelled by plenty of African food and whisky. Tenor’s trademark range of home-made instruments rubbed shoulders with vintage keyboards and traditional African percussion.

The resulting set became one of the best recordings that both artists produced during this period. Tracks range from Jimi’s S&M tableau, ‘Darker Side of Night’ to the apocalyptic commentary on our times, ‘Path To Wisdom’ and the hilarious lampooning of the UK immigration system, ‘Mama England’, composed on the Tenor tour bus. The album also featured fusions based around more traditional low-slung Afrobeat structures (‘Sinuhe’, ‘Got My Egusi’) and ended with the epic freestyle juggernaut, ‘Three Continents’, a life affirming, mesmeric groove built around another rough-as-nails Allenko rhythm base.

(...) Tony Allen: Drums
Jimi Tenor: Keys, Flute, Mini Koto, Tenor Saxophone, Electric Tamboura, Vocals
Ilkka Mattila: Bowed Mosquito Guitar
Daniel Allen Oberto: Percussion, Trumpet
Ekow Alabi Savage: Percussion
Akinola Famson: Percussion
Momo Diafone: Soruba Drum

Produced by Jimi Tenor. Engineered by Jochen Ströh at Lovelite Studios, Berlin. Additional overdubs recorded at Tatamirage Studios, Finland "