{"title":"Ebo Taylor","description":"\u003cp\u003eEbo Taylor (born 1936) is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music.\r\n\r\nBorn in 1936, Ebo Taylor has been a vital figure on the Ghanaian music scene for over six decades. In the late '50s he was active in the influential highlife bands the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band. In 1962, Taylor took his own group, the Black Star Highlife Band, to London, which led to collaborations with Nigerian afrobeat star Fela Kuti as well as other African musicians in Britain at the time. Returning to Ghana, he worked as a producer, crafting recordings for Pat Thomas, C.K. Mann, and others, as well as exploring his own projects, combining traditional Ghanaian material with afrobeat, jazz, and funk rhythms to create his own recognizable sound in the '70s.\r\n\r\nFather of [a=Ebo Taylor Jr.], [a3444104] and [a5357408]\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ebo-taylor-jid022","title":"Ebo Taylor JID022","description":"\u003cp\u003eAt 88 years of age, the Ghanian highlife and afrobeat pioneer \u003cstrong\u003eEbo Taylor\u003c\/strong\u003e traveled to the US for the very first time to perform at the now iconic Jazz Is Dead concert series, selling out venues across the country.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt was during this time that Ebo recorded a psychedelic afrobeat album alongside Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. This mind-blowing collaboration is one that could not have been anticipated by Ebo fans worldwide and will surely satisfy connoisseurs of classic West African funk.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe swirling horns and gritty guitars heard on \u003cem\u003eEbo Taylor JID022\u003c\/em\u003e are reminiscent of his seminal seventies recordings that made him one of Africa’s most prolific and revolutionary artists of all time. Recorded inside of Younge’s Linear Labs studio, this album captures polyrhythmic percussion and twangy, fuzzed out guitars that prove that rhythm is key.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe ensemble of Ghanian background vocalists emanates a uniquely spiritual sound that takes the listener back to Ebo’s prime. However, one of the most exhilarating components to this album is Ebo’s signature approach to vocal stylings. His heartfelt lyrics about love, peace and spirituality echo nearly a century of experience and wisdom.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSongs such as \u003cem\u003e“Beye Bu, Beye Ba”\u003c\/em\u003e demonstrate how God provides for his people as songs like \u003cem\u003e“Kusi Na Sibo”\u003c\/em\u003e teach life lessons on gratitude. This is an afrobeat classic that stands as a true highlight in the canon of Ebo Taylor’s undeniable catalog and a crown jewel in the Jazz Is Dead library.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jazz is Dead","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50397774250315,"sku":"2221692","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Green LP","offer_id":50397777330507,"sku":"2221694","price":31.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50397771170123,"sku":"2221691","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Ebo_Taylor_JID022_f2405f97_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726491666"},{"product_id":"my-love-and-music","title":"My Love And Music","description":"Highlife, afrobeat and jazz rhythms combine effortlessly across this joyous collection. \u003cb\u003eEbo Taylor\u003c\/b\u003e’s grooves feel timeless, balancing social consciousness with an undeniable sense of movement and celebration.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNigel, Rough Trade Office\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Mr Bongo","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50416874062155,"sku":"399839","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":50416874324299,"sku":"399840","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/My_Love_and_Music_7fab358b_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726711761"},{"product_id":"twer-nyame","title":"Twer Nyame","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEbo Taylor\u003c\/strong\u003e is one of Ghana's finest producer\/arrangers. Taylor was heavily influential in the unique sound that emerged from the country in the 70's; a combination of traditional Ghanaian with Afro-beat, jazz, and funk rhythms. He worked with bands including Stargazers Band, Broadway Dance Band, Black Star Highlife Band (with Teddy Osei and Sol Amarfio who later joined Osibisa), Apagya Show Band and fellow musicians C.K. Mann, Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and the legendary Pat Thomas.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTweet Nyame\u003c\/em\u003e (Trust in God) was originally released in 1978 on Philips-West African-Records. Classic highlife sounds; uptempo grooves, vocals, tons of percussion, guitar, horns and organ lines.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mr Bongo","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50438747685195,"sku":"399838","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50438748504395,"sku":"399837","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/431278b7-2fef-4703-822f-5e180fe644a7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726947119"},{"product_id":"ebo-taylor","title":"Ebo Taylor","description":"\u003cp\u003eOriginally released in 1977, \u003cstrong\u003eEbo Taylor\u003c\/strong\u003e's self-titled album is a rarity that truly exposes the genius of the Ghanaian producer and arranger.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHaving spent most of the 1970s involved in Ghana's afro-funk output, working with different bands and musicians alike, Taylor put forward his own unique blend of Ghanaian highlife and afro-beat with this self-titled release.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe six songs that make up the album exemplify Taylor's desire to experiment and move beyond the constraints of colonial influences on Highlife and African musical traditions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSaana\u003c\/em\u003e combines highlife guitars and jazz horns with a funked up rhythm and the sweetest chants, a vibe carried over on \u003cem\u003eNtsir A\u003c\/em\u003e with its funky horns and Ghanaian singing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThroughout the album Taylor injects elements of funk, jazz, and afrobeat into his compositions without being obvious, instead channelling the experimentation he once referred to as \"a way to develop our African music to enable us to get global attention.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHeaven\u003c\/em\u003e is perhaps the album's highlight and widely recognized as one of the finest examples of Ghanaian afrobeat from the late 70s. Its popularity has endured through the decades and the song even found a new lease of life after Usher sampled it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mr Bongo","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":50438751125835,"sku":"1069259","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50438751650123,"sku":"359793","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP - Black (Strut Records Version)","offer_id":53252541776203,"sku":"R4392-4046","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/8d79df81-6e5b-4938-8dc6-ff029d200920_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1726947182"},{"product_id":"yen-ara","title":"Yen Ara","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 81-year-old composer, arranger, guitarist and vocalist has been a key figure in the evolving afro-funk sound since the Seventies, working with the likes of Apagya Show Band, CK Mann and Pat Thomas. Famously, he rubbed shoulders with Fela Kuti while studying in London in the Sixties, before going on to lead the Ghana Black Star Band (featuring Osei and Sol Amarfio from Osibisa) and later the Uhuru Dance Band back in Ghana. Like Fela, he is always pushing forward, constantly reconceptualising his sound and attuning it for a new generation. Part teacher, part messenger, listen to \u003ci\u003eYen Ara\u003c\/i\u003e and you will not only hear the high-energy afrobeat, sweet highlife, jazz and konkoma influences that he’s famous for, but also a disco pulse and hardhitting percussive edge to the tracks, which were produced by Justin Adam (Tinariwen, Rachid Taha, Robert Plant) and recorded in the live room at Electric Monkey Studio in Amsterdam.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis group, the Saltpond City Band, are all handpicked local musicians featuring two of his sons. An appropriate line-up on an album whose titles means “we”. And they are on fine form, ripping through tracks such as \u003ci\u003eKrumandey\u003c\/i\u003e (a surefire party starter) and \u003ci\u003eMind Your Own Business\u003c\/i\u003e (a simple message delivered over a frenetic drum rhythm). Elsewhere, \u003ci\u003eAboa Kyirbin\u003c\/i\u003e will please fans of tough afrobeat grooves, while Taylor could well be inciting a riot at his next gig with \u003ci\u003eMumudey Mumudey\u003c\/i\u003e, We hear him calling for ‘preshaaah’ and leading us into a call and response as the trumpet takes us higher. And the lift of those horns on \u003ci\u003eAnkoma’m\u003c\/i\u003e evokes some of his finest work such as \u003ci\u003eLove and Death\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCome Along\u003c\/i\u003e, the latter recorded with the Pelikans and featured on a recent Mr Bongo reissue.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mr Bongo","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50445730316619,"sku":"1030155","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50445730709835,"sku":"1030156","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/88eec531-ba5e-42fc-835e-0e84bc8bdeb4_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727044297"},{"product_id":"life-stories-highlife-and-afrobeat-classics-1973-1980","title":"Life Stories - Highlife and Afrobeat Classics 1973 - 1980","description":"\u003cp\u003eGhanaian highlife guitar legend Ebo Taylor teams up with Strut for a long overdue definitive compilation of his seminal 1970s recordings, \u003ci\u003eLife Stories\u003c\/i\u003e. During Ghana's highlife explosion during the 1950s and '60s following wartime highlife pioneers like ET Mensah, Ebo Taylor made his name as a prolific composer, arranger and frontman leading two of Ghana's greatest big bands - stargazers and Broadway dance band. Moving to London to study music in 1962 alongside West African luminaries like Fela Kuti and Peter King, Taylor formed the Black Star highlife band and began incorporating jazz elements into traditional highlife forms. Returning to Ghana, Taylor became an in-house arranger and producer for Dick Essilfie-Bondzie's Essiebons label, working with other major Ghanaian stars like CK Mann and Pat Thomas. Through the '70s, he then recorded a number of solo projects, exploring unique fusions and borrowing elements from regional Ghanaian folk music, afrobeat, jazz, soul and funk. This compilation revisits this heyday of Taylor's work, focusing on his solo albums and some of his lesser known side projects including the dynamite Apagya show band and short-lived Taylor-led combos Assase Ase, Super Sounds Namba and the Pelikans. The selection also touches on his writing and production work for CK Mann and a collaboration recording with fellow member of early '70s nightclub band Blue Monks, Pat Thomas. tracks include the anthemic \u003ci\u003eHeaven\u003c\/i\u003e, sampled by Usher on his hit with Ludacris, \u003ci\u003eShe Don't Know\u003c\/i\u003e, the original version of the poignant \u003ci\u003eLove and Death\u003c\/i\u003e and the rare 15-minute nugget, \u003ci\u003eAba Yaa\u003c\/i\u003e. The package features rare photos, original album artwork and sleeve notes by Soundway records' Miles Cleret.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Strut","offers":[{"title":"CD | x2","offer_id":50447519318347,"sku":"336732","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50447518859595,"sku":"336733","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/6a7f8d3d-b4d7-4e5f-ae83-2147652895fd_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727079115"},{"product_id":"palaver","title":"Palaver","description":"\u003cp\u003eBBE Music unearth \u003ci\u003ePalaver\u003c\/i\u003e, a long-lost, previously unreleased 1980 album from Ghanaian guitarist and songwriter Ebo Taylor. If Fela Kuti was the king of Nigerian Afrobeat, then Ebo Taylor, 83 and still playing hard, is the king of Ghana Funky-Highlife. No doubt whatsoever. Much of Ebo’s beautiful 70s and 80s output has been reissued, as more and more Afro music lovers are being converted to his unique pan-West African sound. In 1980 while on a club tour of Nigeria with his regular touring band, Ebo bumped into Chief Tabansi of Tabansi Records. They agreed that Taylor would record a one-album session to be released exclusively on Tabansi. Within a few days the deal was signed, the session completed, the tapes signed off, and Ebo and his band went on their way to complete their Nigerian tour. But for reasons that no-one (including Ebo) can now fully recall, the master tapes got shelved in a dusty backroom in Tabansi’s Onitsha HQ. Where they remained, undisturbed, unreleased, unplayed, for almost forty years. Last year, Peter Adarkwah of BBE Music signed off on a major multi-album reissue deal with Tabansi and its affiliated labels. ‘What about unissued material, if we find any?’ Joe Tabansi, Chief’s son and current administrator of the label, casually asked. Yes, replied Peter- but what unissued material? Upon which, Joe produces these masters. The tapes are rushed to the redoubtable Carvery vinyl remastering and pressing plant in East London, and all at BBE soon realised that they had a masterpiece on their hands. All-new material, all Ebo’s own compositions, all recorded with Ebo’s crème-de-la-crème touring and recording players, including George Amissah. Mat Hammond, George Kennedy and George Abunuah among others. Here it is, for the first time, anywhere. Ebo Taylor’s Lost Nigeria Sessions \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BBE","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50472959443275,"sku":"1073615","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50472962654539,"sku":"1073616","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5ef2afd0-3987-445d-9407-8d11f3b92e6e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727425218"},{"product_id":"love-death","title":"Love \u0026 Death","description":"","brand":"Strut","offers":[{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":56318521737547,"sku":"R8579-6649","price":28.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/05105471.jpg?v=1768581004"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_736d2d17_thumbnail_4096_49d1571f-127c-4bcd-83a8-a3d0e1bc6fec.jpg?v=1726095727","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/ebo-taylor.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}