Rough Guide To Highlife

I would not have stumbled across this record but for my avid reading of Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide columns in the Village Voice (now archived at [...] Rough Guide to Highlife (World Music Network; total running time 64:41) appeared in the Dean's List of best recordings of 2003 and ever curious to find out what this music sounded like, I took a chance and bought it. I highly recommend this record to Afro-pop enthusiasts and to world beat fans in general as it is a fine collection of historically significant (and hitherto largely unavailable) highlife music from the 1960's & 1970's. Highlife is a dance music developed and popularized in the British colonies on the West Coast of Africa. As Graeme Ewens writes in his thoroughly researched sleeve notes, "highlife was one of the first examples of a musical fusion between the old world and the new, and it became a prototype for all African pop." Blending jazz and ragtime music from America with calypso and merengue from the Caribbean and exported to the British African colonies in the 1920's, highlife evolved during the 1940's to include indigenous African rhythms mixed with big band swing style arrangements. Integral to highlife's development over the years was the importing of musical instruments like pianos, trumpets, saxophones, and organs from Europe to the British colonies and then to the newly independent nations of Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. By the 1960's, highlife had further evolved to reflect peoples' hunger for more guitar based latin rhythm bands. This record's music reflects the lighthearted joy that many people felt initially after independence was granted now some 50 years ago. Ghana's first President Kwame Nkrumah actually actively promoted state sponsorship of these highlife bands along with `training schemes' and state competitions. In the late 1960's many highlife bands stopped touring but the music continued to be played and recorded under the difficult circumstances of the civil war in eastern Nigeria. By the 1970's highlife declined as a distinct musical style having been largely been absorbed into the larger Afro-pop and world beat guitar bands. Highlife's influence remains intact however, for as Ewens notes, "The highlife flavour has also been used to spice up other African dance musics from Afro-beat to soukous, makossa and mbalax." All 15 songs on this record are lively, upbeat, expressions of joy and freedom. Perfect for a sunny afternoon at the beach or to chill out to at home, the music on Rough Guide to Highlife is infectiously rhythmic and lends itself well to dancing to or just listening to with friends. As previously mentioned, Graeme Ewens' sleeve notes are exceptionally well written and informative in describing this vibrant and influential music. Individual artists' bios are also featured and Ewens includes (where possible) the names of the albums that these songs originally appeared on. My favorites are Chief Stephen Osita Osidabe (Ka-Anyi Jikota), Jerry Hansen & the Ramblers Dance Band and George Darko. Splash into a unique musical experience with this superb record from the good folks at Rough Guide and pass the joy on!

Over the years, I have read many novels set in Africa where highlife music played a supporting role, describing some aspect of contemporary culture. Knowing nothing, I jumped at this chance to experience some of what it is all about. This 'Rough Guide' did not include 'liner notes' or a booklet, so I ended up having to turn to world music web sites for a more complete explanation. I found that the music probably began in Ghana, even before the 1920's, and spread from there to other African countries, including Liberia, Nigeria and so on. At first, one branch of this long-lived tradition was rooted in local brass bands, based on the music of Colonial occupiers. Gospel music played a major role in one style of Highlife as did something called the Palm Wine tradition. Track 10, "Se Wo Nom Me", by Koo Nimo stands for this branch of the genre. Traditional local rhythms were always present and, later, Jazz, calypso, blues and Reggae influences found their way in. The music has always been featured at concert clubs and dance halls. I don't understand any African languages (some of these cuts are in English), but I read that the lyrics to the songs are local, expressing the concerns of life as real people found/find it. A continuing form features the electric guitar, as shown on this CD's cover. It is this instrument that ties the cuts on this CD together even though brass band instruments often add an almost-mariachi orchestra influence to many of the numbers. I hear the organ or synthesizer and in other cuts. What I thought was steel drum is probably the seprewa, an increasingly rarely heard native multi-stringed instrument. This has always been a true fusion music and it is at least as truly 'fusion' today, open to many influences. Listen beyond the first selection "Highlife Time", which seems to have been selected more for its title in relationship to the scope of the collection than for its musical superiority. Giants of the genre like Desmond Ababio, here with Lewis Wadawa, get things going with "Tsutsu Tsosemo" and Bobby Benson (spellings seem to vary)offers his famous "Taxi Driver." I found the rest of the album to be interesting listening. The cosmopolitan way in which African musicians comb the world listening for sounds and influences to be dazzling in comparison to the American forms I grew up with. For an equally great education, listen to the 8-cut bonus CD that comes packaged with this offering: "Seprewa Kasa", featuring the stringed instrument mentioned above--called in the brief description on the package 'the soul of Highlife.' The vocals here show more of the Gospel roots of the movement coupled with an acoustic music tradition based on jazz fusion. Percussion here seems particularly traditional, full of movement and complexity. I agree with a previous reviewer: for a 'freebie' this addition is a gem! Since it represents a single artistic inspiration, it is in that way superior to the collection that we paid for!

Overall this album was a bit of a disappointment. I had heard much of the music before, and while this music is interesting it is not vital.

Highlife is one of the first jazz/African roots fusion musics, with a history going back to the 1920s. The rough guide series has compiled a pleasant and not too challenging set representing this tradition--the song by Fela Kuti is literally the tamest song I have ever heard by the firebrand. The music however is extremely pleasant and makes fine back ground music. The bonus CD however is extremely special. I actually owned it before I bought this rough guide but am very happy to have a second copy of this CD, as silly as that sounds. The CD is a collection of rootsy African songs for the Ghanian instrument the Seprewa--the CD was known as Seprewa Kasa and is literally one of the finest CDs released in the 2000s--an amazing engrossing work of beauty and delicacy. I highly recommend you buy this rough guide set simply for the bonus CD--you'll love it and heck you might like the rough guide CD too!

Skip this sampler. There are better highlife comps. Such great music deserves a better representation. i'm tossing this one out!

I like it very much. As a listener of various African music this fits in nicely with the little highlife music I already have. This is a good introduction to Highlife.

Everything was perfect

Love all songs

The disc and delivery were acceptable but all the reviews displayed mentioned an additional bonus CD of older Highlife tracks which was not included this was misleading and a poor presentation of the product

no problems