Highlife legend, Ebo Taylor and the Saltpond Band are set to dish out an outstanding musical concert of great Highlife and Afrobeat tunes this January at Alliance Francaise Accra.

Ebo Taylor, whose musical career started in the 1950s when he rose to fame as lead-guitarist and arranger for Stargazers Band and Broadway Dance Band, which were among the most popular Highlife bands of that era has  composed ever popular Highlife songs, like “Sika Enibre”, “Owu Na Mewu”, “Odo Ye Wu”, “Ghana Be Ye Yie”, and “Dofo”.

In 1962, Taylor took his own group, the Black Star Highlife Band, to London, which led to collaborations with the late Nigerian afrobeat star, Fela Kuti as well as other African musicians in Britain at the time. Returning to Ghana, he worked as a producer of crafting recordings for Pat Thomas, C.K Mann, and others, as well as exploring his own projects, and combining traditional Ghanaian material with afrobeat, jazz, and funk rhythms to create his own recognizable sound in the '70s.

He made recordings as solo artist, developing his own innovative style and sound to be heard on his albums.  At this creative stage he composed his enduring hits “Twer Nyame”, “Heaven”, “Come Along”, and “Love & Death”. He became the musical director and main band arranger for the two ground-breaking Ghanaian record companies, Essiebons and Gapophone.

In the 1980s and ‘90s - harsh times for Ghanaian musicians - Taylor worked as free-lance artist, also temporarily in Cote D’Ivoire, and from 2001 he added an academic chapter to his career, and started teaching Highlife and Jazz-guitar at the University of Ghana. This allowed him to research more into local music of the various regions of Ghana, which gradually became a more important inspirational source in Taylor’s compositional approach.

With his compositions, arrangements and also his outstanding guitar style Taylor has shaped Ghanaian music and in particular Highlife substantially. Significantly, he has created his own, remarkable style of African music: a unique synthesis of Highlife, Jazz, und Afrobeat.  Ebo Taylor and his 8-piece Saltpond band will be in action for the first concert of the year to perform some of the songs from his new album ‘Yen Ara’ on Saturday, 13^th January 2018 at Alliance Francaise Accra at 8pm.

Make it a point to be there with your Friends and Family as we enjoy great Highlife tunes.