Ghana's highlife great Pat Thomas has been experiencing something of a career renaissance lately. 2015 saw the release of
Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band (Strut STRUT126CD), his first new recording in many years, and in 2016 a 2-CD retrospective of his recordings from 1964 to 1981,
Coming Home (Strut STRUT147CD) hit the scene.
Thomas has been around for many years. He was born into a musical family in 1951 (his uncle was the legendary
King Onyina), but got his first big break in 1966 when he made the acquaintance of
Ebo Taylor, a musician who had studiend in London with Nigeria's
Fela Ransome-Kuti. Thus began a musical partnership that would continue on and off for many years, producing a number of fine recordings and revolutionizing the Ghanaian music scene.Together, with Ebo on guitar and Pat as arranger and vocalist, they played in the Broadway Dance Band and the Stargazers, two of the most important orchestras of the era. Thomas's breakthrough as a highlighted artist came in with the release of 1974's
False Lover (Gapophone LP 02), recorded with the Sweet Beans, official band of Ghana's Cocoa Marketing Board. A few tracks from this landmark recording are included in an
earlier post here on
Likembe.
Ghana's political and economic travails in the early '80s impelled many musicians overseas, to London, Germany and Toronto, which gave rise to new and exciting permutations of the highlife sound. Ghanaian musicians in Germany, where Thomas lived for a time, developed a disco/highlife hybrid called "Burger Highlife," which took Ghana and its diaspora by storm. In the late '80s Thomas made the journey to Toronto, joining a vibrant Ghanaian exile music scene which included at times musicians like A.B. Crentsil, Alex Konadu and Joe Mensah. He would remain in Canada for ten years, returning to Ghana in 1997.
Although it was recorded in Lomé, Togo, 1986's
Highlife Greats Mbrepa (Jap Records JAP 0102) was released in Canada and is a product of this fertile period. It's a great album, which deserves a proper reissue. Perhaps tracks from it will be included in a future retrospective. For now, though,
enjoy!
Pat Thomas - Mbrepa Baba
Pat Thomas - Onsu Nyame Ye
Pat Thomas - Adze Akye Henbia
Pat Thomas - Nyi No Nsen Hwe
Pat Thomas - Asembe Nyi
Pat Thomas - Odo A Me Do Woyi
Download
Highlife Greats Mbrepa as a zipped file
here.
