Fifty Years of Xalam

About ten years ago I devoted a post to the Senegalese jazz/funk group Xalam, then celebrating their fortieth anniversary. It seems that Xalam is still around, and going strong! So next year will mark the fiftieth anniversary of this very influential combo.

Xalam has been a home for many Senegalese musicians who have gone on to acheive fame as solo artists and session musicians. Among these are founding members Seydina Insa Wade,  Idrissa Diop and Cheikh Tidiane Tall. As well, the group has opened for Western acts including Crosby, Still and Nash and Robert Plant. Xalam's percussionists were featured on the Rolling Stones' 1983 LP Undercover.

Here's a video of the group with the legendary Senegalese percussionist Doudou Ndiaye Rose:

And here for your listening pleasure is Xalam's 1993 cassette Samanka. Enjoy!

Xalam - Baye Mor

Xalam - Lambigolo

Xalam - Samanka

Xalam - Sister

Xalam - Yaram

Xalam - Gunte

Xalam - Dikeul

Download Samanka as a zipped file here.

Pat Thomas's False Lover

I posted four tracks from Pat Thomas's 1974 album False Lover (Gapophone GAPO 02) almost ten years ago. Recently a reader asked that I post the whole LP. Pat's been experiencing a career renaissance lately, and he's been a mainstay of Likembe, so I couldn't think of a good reason why not!

False Lover was Thomas's first solo LP after stints with the Broadway and Uhuru Dance Bands. As he states in the liner notes of the retrospective, Coming Home: Original Ghanaian Highlife & Afrobeat Classics 1964-1981 (Strut STRUT 147, 2016):

...I was planning to go to Europe but the Cocoa Marketing Board in Ghana got in touch and wanted me to form a new band. So, I went back to recording and writing music with Ebo [Taylor] and formed the Sweet Beans. The album featuring the band, False Lover, was my first album under my own name and it was very special for me. Reggae was "on" at that time and Jimmy Cliff was the top singer so I was trying reggae in his style on tracks like "Revolution" and "False Lover." I was open to all styles, though, and would always try whatever sounds were coming in. False Lover was a big album in Ghana ...

The first four tracks of False Lover are indeed reggae, but the rest of the album is straight-ahead danceband highlife, and very successful. Enjoy!

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Revolution

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - False Lover

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - It Takes Time

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Sweet Baby

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Set Me Free

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Don't Beat the Time

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Abotare Na Ntease

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Ɔdɔ San Bra

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Merebre

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Mesiafo

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Wabe Aso

Pat Thomas & the Sweet Beans - Eye Wo Asɛm Ben

Download False Lover as a zipped file here.

Between Man and Money

I've been posting some of the many Hausa cassettes from northern Nigeria in my collection with a bit of anxiety. It's not a genre I'm terribly familiar with - most of the documentation online is in Hausa. In terms of rhythm and orchestration, let's just say this music is not terribly ostentatious. Hausa music's attractions seem to lie in the quality of the lyrics, which I'm told can be poetic, legendary and amusing. But since I don't know Hausa or anyone who does, I can't tell you anything about them, other than what I can glean from the internet.

Still, Google Analytics and download statistics from Mediafire tell me that my Hausa postings have garnereed a fair amount of interest, so I'll keep putting them up here. Maybe someone reading this who knows Hausa can help fill in the blanks for us.

Today's featured artist, Alhaji Audu Wazirin Danduna (above), was one of the more popular Hausa bards. He passed away on July 6, 2013 after a long career marked by many beloved songs, including "Alhaji Abubakar Sarkin Karaye" ("Great King Abubakar") and "Dan Adam da Kudi" ("Between Man and Money"), both of which are included on our featured cassette, Harka Sai Da Kudi (EMI Nigeria HMV 032). The second song is the subject of a scholarly paper by Aminu Ali at Bayero University in Kano, "Money and Social Interaction in Simmel’s Philosophy of Money and Audu Wazirin Ɗanduna’s Ballad Tsakanin Ɗan'adam da Kuɗi," which you can download here. Ali writes:

...Wazirin Ɗanduna, in this ballad, Tsakanin Ɗan’ adam da Kuɗi, portrays his perception of the character of money in modern society. His skilful vignette of the character of money and analysis of how it transforms social relationships was similar to Simmel’s philosophy of money. He, like Simmel, sees money as a component of life that aids an understanding of the totality of life. He is of the view that reification, cynicism, a blasé attitude, and impersonal relationships and individualism characterized social life in a money economy. Wazirin Ɗanduna repeatedly narrates, in different stanzas, that money creates and expands social networks among individuals and its possession is inevitable for an individual’s continuous social existence. For instance, he sings:

Hausa:
Wazirin Ɗanduna: Yanzu ba ka mutane sai kana da kuɗi
’Y/Amshi: Tsakanin Ɗan’ adam da Kuɗi

English:
Wazirin Ɗanduna: People relate with you only if you have money
Chorus: Money and a man

Hausa:
Wazirin Ɗanduna: Yanzu duk wata harka sai kana da kuɗi
’Y/Amshi: Tsakanin Ɗan’ adam da Kuɗi

English:
Wazirin Ɗanduna: Every deal nowadays is traced to money
Chorus: Money and a man

In the two stanzas above, Wazirin Ɗanduna also expresses the tragedy of culture; people indispensably need money (the objective culture) in order to relate with others and be functioning members of society, which paves the way for self-reflection and development of self-consciousness (the subjective culture). This means that money has assumed a life of its own, exerting independent influence on the humans who created it.

The impersonal nature of money has also been stressed by Wazirin Ɗanduna. He, like Simmel, affirms that people are connected only by an interest that can be expressed in monetary terms. He also indicates in the stanzas following that money, rather than individuals’ personal qualities and social ties, shapes our everyday dealings with others. In other words, it depersonalizes relationships between individuals; it makes an individual’s personal attributes, other ties, etc. immaterial. For instance, when he says ‘no deals without money’ and ‘every deal nowadays is traced to money,' he underestimates the influence of blood and social ties or, more precisely, envisions them as withering away in modern time. Wazirin Ɗanduna says:

Yanzu ba wata harka sai kana da kuɗi
‘No deals without money’

Yanzu duk wata harka sai kana da kuɗi
‘Every deal nowadays is traced to money’

Akan so mummuna saboda kuɗi
‘Someone ugly is desired because of money’

Ka ga ana ƙin kyakkyawa saboda kuɗi
‘And someone beautiful is rejected because of money

Wazirin Ɗanduna was also interested in analyzing the reification that characterized a money economy. He identifies certain attributes that were hitherto non-monetary, but are nowadays treated as if they are concrete or material things. He specifically emphasizes respect, truth and love as abstract things that are tied to money in the stanzas quoted beneath:

Ko girma ma sai kana da kuɗi
‘Prestige is only tied to money’

Kuma akan yi rashin girma saboda kuɗi
‘And one falls from grace because of money’

Ana ɗaukar magana saboda kuɗi
‘Command is obeyed because of money’

Ana ƙin magana saboda kuɗi
‘And command is disobeyed because of money’

Ana raba ka da girma saboda da kuɗi
‘You can be snubbed without money’

Ҡaramin yaro saboda kuɗi
‘A boy with money’

Ana masa ban girma saboda kuɗi
‘Is respected because of money’

Ana take ƙarya saboda kuɗi
‘a lie is often covered-up because of money’

In the stanzas above, Wazirin Ɗanduna explicitly shows that respect and disrespect are associated with money. He also shows that lies can be covered up and treated as truths because of money. This means that respect and truth are treated as if they are commodities that have prices. To further illustrate this point, he narrates that:

Ko Alhaji ya zo sai ka na da kuɗi
‘Alhaji’s presence is recognized only if he is affluent’

Alhaji ko baya nan don saboda kuɗi
‘Alhaji’s absence is noticed because of money’

In the preceding stanzas, he shows that Alhaji’s (used in this context to refer to a head of a family) presence or absence is recognized even by the members of his family only because of money. This means one’s position in the family does not determine the respect accorded to him or his influence on other members of the family – what determines these things is his or her material position.

Wazirin Ɗanduna also shows that reification has resulted in a blasé attitude; people are unperturbed by certain virtues, they are rather concerned with excessive materialism. To stress this, he, like Simmel, uses marriage for material gain as an example. Wazirin Ɗanduna demonstrates that material consideration assumes more prominence in choosing a marriage partner than genuine personal affection, state of health, temperament, physical appearance, and other non-material virtues possessed by the chosen partner. Wazirin Ɗanduna explicitly shows this in the stanzas below:

Ana auren gurgu saboda kuɗi,
‘A paraplegic is often married because of money’

Ana ƙin mai kafa saboda kuɗi
‘And yet a healthy person is disliked because of money’

Ana son mummuna saboda kuɗi,
‘Someone ugly is desired because of money’

Ka ga ana ƙin kyakkyawa saboda kuɗi
‘And someone beautiful is also rejected because of money’.

The aforesaid stanzas indicate that physical deformities, ugliness and beauty are ignored or, to put it differently, are less important in selecting a partner. What is most important is the material status of the partner. This means money has made people develop a blasé attitude with respect to these virtues (beauty, truth, temperament, fitness, etc.)...

I hope Dr. Ali won't object to me posting this extensive extract from his paper. I think we're all interested in putting the music we listen to into context.

Alhaji Audu Wazirin Danduna -  Alhaji Abubakar Sarkin Karaye / Duniya / Ibrahim Tahir

Alhaji Audu Wazirin Danduna - Dan Adam da Kudi / Garba A.D.

I will continue to upload music like this if people are interested. Download Harka Sai da Kudi as a zipped file here.

"Expensive" Jùjú

Olubi Taiwo, under his stage name "Expensive Olubi," was a midlevel jùjú star in '70s Nigeria. Other than that, I can't tell you anything about him. My wife Priscilla obtained a cassette of this record, Vol. 2 (MOLPS 5), while visiting the offices of his record company, Ibukun Orisun Iye, in Lagos in 1998. It's apparently a factory-issued cassette and not a dub of the vinyl presssing, but doesn't have a factory-printed label (see below). There was no inlay card for the cassette either. I got a scan of the LP cover from Discogs.

Recorded in the early '70s, this is fast-paced jùjú in the style that was popular then, and quite similar to the recordings of King Sunny Adé from the same era. Enjoy!

Expensive Olubi & his Golden Stars Band - Egbe Expensive Olubi / Oluwa Fun Wa Lowo / Sunny Achimota / I Love You / Oro Ajoso

Expensive Olubi & his Golden Stars Band - Igba Meta Nigba Eda Laiye / Owuro Lawa / J. A. Odusanya / Kiku Wa Pa Wa Lewe / Akanbi Awolesu / O Sele

Download Vol. 2 as a zipped file here.

The Bird of Sankaran

At first I thought the title of today's featured recording, L'Oiseau de Sankara (BGDA 91007, 1992), was a tribute to the late President of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, who was martyred in 1987. Apparently, though, it was a typo by whoever designed the cassette cover, one that has been repeated in several reissues since! The artist involved, Kerfala Kante, apparently hails from the village of Sankaran in northern Guinea. The title, therefore, should be L'Oiseau de Sankaran, "The Bird of Sankaran." This was the first solo outing for Mr. Kante, although thankfully not his last!

Like many musicians from this part of West Africa, Mr. Kante is a hereditary griot, and began playing balafon (traditional xylophone) at an early age, later transitioning to the guitar. He joined the Tropical Djoli Band de Faranah in 1980 and Balla & ses Balladins in 1984. Unfortunately, this latter move coincided with the collapse of the Guinean music industry following the death of President Sekou Touré. So he was without a musical home for a few years.

Released in 1992, L'Oiseau de Sankara is a great example of the sort of "New Guinean" music we've discussed here earlier, by artists like Kadé Diawara and Yaya Bangoura. It takes as its starting point the traditional sounds of Guinea. However, rather than the full compliment of guitars and brass instruments that distinguished the country's music in the Sekou Touré era, it utilizes a more stripped-down sound, with maybe one electric guitar, bass and synth supplemented by traditional instruments like the kora and balafon. Unfortunately the inlay card for this cassette does not credit these fine musicians! Some of Kerfala Kante's more recent recordings are available for sale and download on various sites. Enjoy!

Kerfala Kante - Kaniteya

Kerfala Kante - N'na Djassana

Kerfala Kante - Kouta

Kerfala Kante - Ramata

Kerfala Kante - Morogbe

Kerfala Kante - N'na Kissi

Download L'Oiseau de Sankara as a zipped file here.

Four "Cultural" Stars From Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, Ambassel Music and Video Shop perservered throughout the bitter '70s and '80s - through political repression, curfews and civil war - to produce some of the most memorable artists and music of the time. In the early '90s, after the fall of the Dergue regime, it emerged intact to issue this great selection of Ethiopian "cultural music" - 4 ባህል አንፀባራቂዎች  - 4 Bahel Anshabarakiwoch ("Four Cultural Stars").

All four of the musicians featured here are well-known in Ethiopia, but only one, Rahel Yohannes, has been the subject of a previous Likembe post. Once again, Likembe's good friend Andreas Wetter of Berlin, Germany has come through with translations! He has also provided phonetic transliterations of the Ge'ez script, but I'm including the more common renderings as well. Here are the liner notes of the cassette, translated by Andreas: 

4  ባህል አንፀባራቂዎች
4 bahəl anṣäbaraqiwočč
4 Cultural stars 

ልዩ የባህል ዘፈኖች በካሴትና በቪዲዮ ክር ከአምባሰል
ləyyu yäbahəl zäfänočč bäkasetənna bävidiyo kərr kä-ambasäl
Extraordinary traditional songs on cassette and on video cassette from Ambassel 

ይርጋ ዱባለ
yərga dubbalä
Yirga Dubale 

ራሔል ዮሀንስ
rahel yohannəs
Rahel Yohannes 

ዳምጠው አየለ
damṭäw ayyälä
Damtew Ayyele 

ማሪቱ ለገሠ
maritu läggäsä
Maritu Leggese

From a YouTube posting from February of last year about Yirga Dubale:

Yirga Dubale, an iconic masinko player, raconteur, and poet, left a lasting musical legacy when he died from nerve damage last week aged 82. Over the course of his career, which spanned more than 60 years, Yirga strived to broaden the exposure of Amharic folk and patriotic music with an intensely communicative style. With current of lyricism that expresses solidarity with the poor, he had an active role in preserving and promoting the Gondar’s Azmari tradition. 

Born in Koza Belesa of Gondar region in May, 1929, Yirga developed an interest in music at an early age. His father, Likke Mekuas Dubale Negash, was a celebrated music player who demonstrated to his son the deep pleasure of music. Yirga started playing maskino (a violin-like instrument) at an early age of ten. At twelve, he left his family and headed to Gondar town, beginning an itinerant life. Over the next few years, Yirga honed his skills and began to make a name for himself performing in cabarets and public places.  

In 1947 the young musician came to Addis Ababa and joined the Armed Force Band but he was disappointed by the low pay and went back to Gondar. However, he was caught and made to return. He once said in an interview that despite all this, he was well-liked by members of the army and the imperial regime. “I was showered with gifts of guns and colts which I later sold for Humera and Metema merchants,” he said. 

Years later, Yirga spent a year in Asmara, singing at a bar in what soon became a popular draw on the city’s music scene. Among the audience members was a military general, Aman Mickael Andom, commander of the Third Division in the Emperor’s Army. He liked Yirga so much that he soon had him in a mission to inspire and cheer the fighting forces of the country. Yirga was taken to the far battle fields of Eritrea to chant for the army, receiving applauds. Days later, to his surprise, he found himself performing in front of the Emperor who came to greet the army in Mitistwa. The occasion was broadcast by radio and brought him tremendous fame. In 1971, Yirga was awarded the King’s First Class Order of Merit Award from Colonel Tamrat Yigezu. One of his achievements was forming a musical group in Gondar town, the Fasiledes Musical Group. As a much-loved teacher for years he taught many of today’s leading musicians.
With the coming of the military regime, Yirga left the country and moved to Israel. The departure proved a fruitful move for the musician as he soon found himself performing in Israel, Europe and America for the expatriate Ethiopian audience. 

In 1991 he was back in Ethiopia to begin a gentle climb through the national music. He’s had many appearances in grand events. Unfortunately, a nerve breakdown eight years ago left the masinko player paralyzed, which he blamed on a betrayal of the business partner when he was trying to open a club in Haya Hulet area. 

A likeable man with a disarmingly easy-going manner, Yirga retained a large fan base. He was recently awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by the Gondar Development Association. He is survived by his wife, to whom he was married for 46 years, and his six children.

Andreas writes about this song, "Gojjam Endet Nesh (ጐጃም እንዴት ነሽ)": "'Goğğam Әndet Näš" - 'Gojjam, How are You?' Gojjam is a province northwest of Addis Ababa, in one of the Amhara provinces (although there are also other minority groups such as the Awngi)."

Yirga Dubale (ይርጋ ዱባለ) - Gojjam Endet Nash? (ጐጃም እንዴት ነሽ)

Another one by Yirga Dubale, "Yaberr Awdemma (የብር አውድማ)" Andreas writes, "It must be 'Yäbərra Awdəmma,' but the final vowel a of the first word is assimilated to the first vowel of the following word. I asked on my FB wall about the meaning and got a good answer. In fact, the whole phrase is 'anči yäbərr awdəmma' which means that a woman ('anči' is the female form of 'you') is compared to the bright or clear day when threshing is possible. The threshing place is usually in the open field. Thus the metaphorical meaning is that the girl compared to such a lucky day (when threshing is possible) is a very special one, a girl/woman who has been looked or searched for."

Yirga Dubale (ይርጋ ዱባለ) -  Yäberr Awdemma (የብር አውድማ)

Maritu Legesse (ማሪቱ ለገሠ, below) has been dubbed Ethiopia's "Queen of Ambassel Music" and this song, "Zomawa (ዞማዋ)," is one of her most popular. According to Andreas, the title means, "Her wavy and long (i.e. beautiful)  hair"

Maritu Leggese (ማሪቱ ለገሠ) - Zomawa (ዞማዋ)

Rahel Yohannes (below), was the subject of a previous post on Likembe. She has released many recordings in Ethiopia. The title of this song, "Tsaflenye Sälamta (ፃፍልኝ ሰላምታ)," means "Write to me a greetings."

Rahel Yohannes (ራሔል ዮሀንስ) - Tsaflenye Sälamta (ፃፍልኝ ሰላምታ)

"Wägäne (ወገኔ)" = "My companion/kin/relative“

Maritu Leggese (ማሪቱ ለገሠ) - Wägäne (ወገኔ)

The legendary Damtew Ayyele, whose career dated to Haile Selassie's time, passed away in Ethiopia on July 4, 2014. He had spent the previous eight years in Norway. Over that time he was an ambassador for Ethiopian culture and performed numerous concerts throughout Europe. When he was diagnosed with a terminal disease, he determined to die at home, and with the help of the International Organization for Migration he was able to do that. The title of this song, "Däse Lay (ደሴ ላይ)," means "In Däse," Däse being the capital of Wollo Province:

Damtew Ayyele (ዳምጠው አየለ) - Däse Lay (ደሴ ላይ)

"Anchin Alamnem (አንቺን አላምንም)" (Ančin Alamnəm) = "I Don’t Believe You."

Yirga Dubale (ይርጋ ዱባለ) - Anchin Alamnem (አንቺን አላምንም)

"Abet Abet (አቤት አቤት)" = "Oh Dear, Oh Dear!

Rahel Yohannes (ራሔል ዮሀንስ) - Abet Abet (አቤት አቤት)

Andreas: "መራዥ ይወዳል" must be "Märraž Yəwäddall Hode," meaning literally "My Stomach Loves a Poisoner." But "Märraž" has the meaning of "hero" or "brave man" in this context. "Hode," meaning "my stomach," refers to the person himself. The correct meaning is therefore "I love a brave man/hero."

Yirga Dubale (ይርጋ ዱባለ) -  Märazhi Yewädal (መራዥ ይወዳል)

"Yekätalsh Ayne (ይከተልሽ አይኔ)" (Yəkkätələš Ayne) = "Should my eye follow you?"

Yirga Dubale & Maritu Legesse (ይርጋ ዱባለ & ማሪቱ ለገሠ) - Yekätalsh Ayne (ይከተልሽ አይኔ)

Download 4 Bahel Anshabarakiwoch  as a zipped file here.

Ghana Highlife - The London Connection

Over the last few months I've been posting a disproportionate amount of sweet Ghana highlife from the '80s. I just happened to digitize quite a bit of this music a while back and I'm sure you don't mind!

I've discussed here also the circumstances that led to so much of this music being recorded and produced outside of Ghana - an economic crisis that resulted in many musicians finding refuge in West Germany, Canada and other far-flung places, including the US. I present today a product of the thriving Ghana music scene in the United Kingdom. Of course, because of their shared colonial history, Britain has always been a destination for citizens of Ghana, economic crisis or not!

I've been unable to find out anything about this musician, Nana Budjei. The album, Afrikaman (KBN 02, 1989), is a great example of the sort of sparkly, innovative highlife that was being produced in London during this period. Especially notable is the soukous-flavored guitar work of Sierra Leonean  Abdul Tee-Jay. Very nice! Nothing much else to say. Enjoy!

Nana Budjei - Afrikaman

Nana Budjei - Asamando

Nana Budjei - Adasama

Nana Budjei - Asobrachie

Nana Budjei - Ohia

Nana Budjei - Ohia (Jungle Mix)

Download Afrikaman as a zipped file here.

The Little Orphan of Jos

Together with Barmani Mai Coge and Alhaji Maman Shata, Dan Maraya Jos was a leading exemplar of the traditional music of the Hausa people of northern Nigeria.

Alhaji Adamu Wayya (his nickname "Dan Maraya Jos" means "the little orphan of Jos") was born in Bukuru, a suburb of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria in 1946. As both of his parents died when he was young, he was adopted by the Sarkin Hausawa, or Emir, of Bukuru, for whom his father was a court musician. It was under the tutelege of the Emir that Adamu Wayya made the acquaintence of local musicians, traveling and becoming a master of the kuntigi, the Hausa one-string lute. His Wikipedia entry states:

The kuntigi is a small, single-stringed lute. The body is usually a large, oval-shaped sardine can covered with goatskin. Dan Maraya and other kuntigi players are solo performers who accompany themselves with a rapid ostinato on the kuntigi. During instrumental interludes they repeat a fixed pattern for the song they are playing, but while singing, they will often change the notes of the pattern to parallel the melody they are singing. 

Like most professional musicians, the mainstay of Dan Maraya's repertoire is praise singing, but Dan Maraya singles out his personal heroes rather than the rich and famous. His first, and perhaps still his most famous song is "Wak'ar Karen Mota" ("Song of the Driver's Mate") in praise of the young men who get passengers in and out of minivan buses and do the dirty work of changing tires, pushing broken down vans, and the like. During the Nigerian Civil War, he composed numerous songs in praise of soldiers of the federal army and incorporated vivid accounts of scenes from the war in his songs. 

Dan Maraya's music promoted family and social values as well as national unity. He campaigned for polio vaccination and was politically active as well, performing on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan's People's Democratic Party in the 2015 elections. He passed away June 20, 2015 in Jos. On the occasion, his good friend Ladan Salihu, Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, declared:

Inaa Lillaahi Wa Innaa ilaihir raaji’un. One of Nigeria’s foremost Hausa musicians, poet, philosopher and philanthropist, Dr Adamu Danmaraya Jos has answered Allah’s call about an hour ago. He died in Jos after a protracted illness. When I visited him two weeks ago, he spoke passionately about the Unity of the North and of one Nigeria. We shared many moments. He was to me a brother and a friend. I am devastated. But I am proud he lived a very useful life, transforming society through music and silently through Islamic endeavours. May Allah grant him Aljannatul Firdaus. Jos was a poet and griot, and his music was often laced with philosophy and drama.

Here's a musical offering from this immortal poet, the 1986 LP Kudi Masu Gida Rana (Polydor POLP 151). I'm unable to tell you anything about the songs or their lyrics. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Dan Maraya - Kudi Masu Gida Rana

Dan Maraya - Wakar Shari'a

Dan Maraya - Alhaji Shaaibu Jagaf

Dan Maraya - Wakar Hankali

Dan Maraya - Alhaji Bako Doma

Dan Maraya - Wakar PolyGram

Download Kudi Masu Gida Rana as a zipped file here.

Update: Many thanks to Richard Graham for bringing this to my attention:

The Controversial Sounds of "Burger Highlife"

The genre known as "Burger Highlife" originated among Ghanaian musicians living in Germany in the early '80s. Lauded and excoriated in equal measure, it has had considerable influence on Ghanaian popular music to this day.

How to characterize this controversial style? In the May 26, 1986 issue of West Africa magazine, Nii Laryea Korley wrote:

The past few years have seen the release of a spate of highlife recordings by Ghanaian musicians based abroad. A major and common characteristic of these recordings is the strong infusion of funk rhythms and the utilisation of a plethora of modern electronic gadgets. A number of these musicians, including George Darko, Kantata, Rex Gyamfi, Allan Cosmos Adu and Charles Amoah, are based in West Germany and this had led to the music being labeled "Burgher" highlife. In Ghana a "Burgher" refers to one who has lived in West Germany for a while. 

It is difficult to define what is "correct" highlife because the music has over the years been open to new approaches and innovations although usually in a certain context. One can safely say, however, that be it the palmwine bar style of Kwa Mensah and Kaikaku or the big band treatment of Uhuru and Ramblers, the music has always posessed that loose, free-flowing and lilting quality that always makes it easily identifiable. 

Local acts like Sweet Talks, Pat Thomas, C. K. Mann and Precious Jewels, especially in the 1970s, flirted with the strict, constant beat mainly associated with American funk music, but even there the highlife feel dominated, and it was abundantly clear what line they were toeing. George Darko's 1983 release "Akoo Te Brofo" had the trappings of a highlife tune but leaned much more towards funk and that became the real trailblazer. Musicians who have recorded material in the highlife-funk vein, apart from the ones mentioned earlier, include Dan Davies, Andy Vans, Asafo and Julius Antwi. 

Describing his own approach to the music, George Darko said: "As a guitarist trying to fuse highlife with other styles I think it is necessary for me to utilize the indigenous 'Yaa Amposah'style of picking the strings because if the keyboard is doing strictly jazz or funk, the guitar cannot tread the same path. The drums and the bass can be made to play anything but the guitar and the vocals must always bring out the highlife feel".... 

....In an interview on Radio Ghana, Kwabena Fosu-Mensah, a music journalist based in Britain commented: "I feel that they (the Burgher highlife exponents) are more popular here in Ghana for various reasons. One of the reasons is that I think the whites, especially in UK, want authentic African music that is properly recorded. Wheras here [in Ghana] it seems that people are going for George Darko-style, Rex Gyamfi-style and so on." 

Some amount of adverse criticism has been aired around the "Burgher" highlife trend. Producer Mohammed Malcolm Ben said: "It is only our fascination with American funk music that makes us think that we have to make highlife sound like funk to make it sell abroad...If we encourage the trend of highllfe music that is going on now, I mean the fusion with the funk rhythms, there would soon come a time when the original highlife as handed down over the years would be dead and that would be very, very unfortunate." 

Another producer, Faisal Helwani told the Mirror newspaper that "some of  them play straight funk, add Akan lyrics and call it highlife ... Our radio stations are not encouraging traditional highlife anymore. Everyday, all one hears is this kind of 'Burgher' highlife." 

Paa Kwesi Brew, a disk-jockey on GBC-2, reacted to Faisal's comments by saying: "As DJs we play tunes, both old and new, to liven up the station. We can't play only the old approaches to highlife and leave the modern ones. Highlife has many branches. The root is there but there are many branches to make up the canopy." 

The "Burgher" highlife is a trend that is still developing. A number of the exponents currently sound alike but this is likely to change as the style gradually becomes more clearly defined and consolidated. It may bloom and it may wither, but for the moment it is here, and to turn deaf ears to it would be like strangling a newborn, healthy baby.

Today's featured artist, George Darko, as mentioned in the above article, was a pioneer of Burger Highlife who was quite popular in the 1980s. Ending up in West Germany like so many other Ghanaians as the result of an economic crisis at home, he set out to make a new sound that combined the music of his homeland with modern studio technology. John Duke wrote in the March 14, 1988 issue of West Africa:

... George Darko says he is a jazz fanatic at heart but he also has a great love of highlife. His dream is to see highlife develop and achieve universal status as reggae has done. He feels it needs to be packaged in such a way that it becomes acceptable to the European market. He realises that roots highlife itself, tends to be too heavy for those who are not thoroughly conversant with African music. Even Africans sometimes get bored with the monotony of the rhythms although the music can be infinitely beautiful. 

The compromise was to find a middle ground for Europeans - giving them the kind of music they are familiar with and at the same time introduce them to the originality and the scope of highlife. Afro-fusion, as Darko calls it, was the result ...

Darko scored big with the song "Akoo te Brofo" from his first LP, Friends (Okoman DA 1) in 1982. His followup, 1983's Hi-Life Time (Okoman DA 2), was even bigger, propelling him to the world stage and sparking denunciations from purists. Elizabeth Sobo, a columnist for the US music magazine The Beat, flatly declared it "not highlife," and other reviewers sniffed at its synth-driven, modern ambiance.

Time was when I would have numbered myself among the detractors, but my views have moderated. There's no arguing with success, and the Burger Highlife sound has proven itself not only in Europe, the region of its birth, but among Ghanaians in Ghana itself. When you really get down to it, African music shouldn't be defined by some set of strict criteria - it's just music by Africans, for Africans. Afro-funk, Afro-disco, Afro-fusion - it's all good! And othodox highlife or not, there's no denying that Hi-Life Time, featured here, is awfully catchy. Thirty years after the first time I heard it, the title track is an ear-worm that I haven't been able to get out of my head!

George Darko - Kaakyire Nua

George Darko - Odoyewu

George Darko - Children's Song

George Darko - Highlife Time

Download Hi-Life Time as a zipped file here. Over the years I've written several posts featuring Burger Higlife, which you can access here. A future post will highlight the group Kantata, featuring the vocals of Lee Doudou, who sings lead on Hi-Life Time. And who knows, I might have another one from George Darko also.

Yéplé Jazz!

From the little I've been able to find out about him, Abel Yéplé of Ivory Coast has had a long career. I suspect he may have passed away recently. I don't know enough about Ivorian music to situate his sound within the panapoly of musical styles there: Ziglibithy, Polihet, Zoblazo, Zouglou and so forth. Judging by today's offering - 1992's Adji Aka (EMI NH0013) he borrows a little bit from all of them. Whatever you want to call it, it's fine, fine music!

Abel Yéplé & le Yéplé Jazz - Adji Aka

Abel Yéplé & le Yéplé Jazz - Kono

Abel Yéplé & le Yéplé Jazz - Yélé

Abel Yéplé & le Yéplé Jazz - Wandja

Abel Yéplé & le Yéplé Jazz - Kadjima

Abel Yéplé & le Yéplé Jazz - Zahouly-Boh

Download Adji Aka as a zipped file here.