Andy Allo Live In Tokyo

Tonight I managed to catch the second of Andy Allo’s four shows at The Blue Note in Tokyo and it was an outstanding, truly memorable set.

Allo is a young singer-songwriter from Cameroon by way of California who has been steadily gaining attention for her rich and captivating voice. Having appeared alongside Prince, whom she collaborated with on her new album, Allo evokes some Raspberry Beret era pop sensibility, but also manages to convey a broader musical vocabulary, at times reminiscent of Lauryn Hill and Me’Shell Ndegéocello.

One is tempted to say Allo and her band (William Wells on keyboards, Frank-Cliff Jean on bass and Aurelien Lefebvre on drums) really brought the Funk to Tokyo, but that would be oversimplifying the story. The night was filled with a broad palette of grooves, with everything from rootsy Soul, cut time Funk, Reggae and even some Highlife Afro-Pop.

And, at the centre of this was Allo’s engaging, authentic and winsome stage presence. A gifted singer, songwriter and story-teller Andy Allo richly deserves the attention she is starting to receive and one can only hope as her repertoire grows so too will the following she creates for her brand of soulful music.