大象传媒

Previously broadcast on the 大象传媒 World Service, Music Life is a show in which four musicians from around the world share their experiences of a life in music.

This one's for those with rhythm. Ezra Collective drummer Femi Koleoso and Dele Sosimi of Fela Kuti's Egypt 80 are joined on Music Life by two of the greatest drummers of all time - Billy Cobham and Tony Allen. Nigeria's Tony Allen passed away not long after this was recorded. With his band mate Fela Kuti he founded the Afrobeat sound, which led Fela to declare: "without Tony there would be no Afrobeat". Billy Cobham is a Panamanian-American jazz drummer who played with Miles Davis in the 60s and 70s, before forming the Mahavishnu Orchestra. He's gone on to play with Peter Gabriel, Quincy Jones, James Brown and many more. Dele Sosimi is a Nigerian-British musician who also played with Fela Kuti, playing keyboards in his Egypt 80 band, before forming Positive Force with Fela's son Femi Kuti.

Femi Koleoso gets to put questions to his musical heroes; the musicians he鈥檚 looked up to which have made him the musician he is today, leading to his work with London jazz group Ezra Collective, Jorja Smith, and Loyle Carner.