Http high life
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Afropop Worldwide
Gyedu Blay Ambolley is a living legend of West African highlife, Afro-funk and Afro-jazz. And the good news is, he’s still making fantastic music. His new album Highlife Jazz finds him and his band in top form. There are covers of jazz classics, “Round Midnight,” “All Blues,” “Footprints” and “A Love Supreme,” all reinterpreted with a distinctive highlife swing. The album is a joy to hear, among this veteran’s very best work. Afropop’s Banning Eyre reached Ambolley in Accra as he was about to set out on tour in Europe. Here’s their conversation.
Banning Eyre: Gyedu, great to speak with you again.
Gyedu Blay Ambolley: Nice to talk with you too. It's been a while since we last met here.
Yes, almost 10 years. How’s life in Accra?
Accra is O.K., but it's been raining lately. We are getting prepared for the tour to promote the album.
Where are you going?
We'll start in France and then go to Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and then we’ll come back to France. Just a short tour, five countries.
Fantastic. I am really loving this album. I've enjoyed Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, affectionately known as the "Simigwa Do Man", was born in the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi, in the Western Region of Ghana, West Afrika. The multi-talented, International, Ghanaian Musician, celebrated his "Silver Jubilee" in music in 1998. This versatile, irrepressible singer, songwriter, producer and "musical-life-force" exploded on the music scene twenty-five years ago with a jazzy highlife sounds called 'SIMIGWA'. Ambolley's early years of musical interest dates back to the age of eight, when he began playing with his father's flute until he was able to teach himself how to play. His formal musical training came at the age of fourteen under the apprenticeship of "Uncle Bonku" who taught him the guitar. The young music enthusiast continued to learn the rudiments of music from the late' Sammy Lartey and Ebo Taylor. Ambolley spend a great part of his day listening to records of musicians living in the United States. He contributes his free style of singing to such mentors as James Brown, Ray New releases from Gyedu-Blay Ambolley on Deezer Most popular albums from Gyedu-Blay Ambolley Find artists similar to Gyedu-Blay Ambolley Playlists & music by Gyedu-Blay Ambolley Listen to Gyedu-Blay Ambolley on Deezer Gyedu-Blay Ambolley, often referred to as “James Brown of Ghana", is best known for his mix of high life, funk, jazz, and freestyle singing. Born in 1947, in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, Ambolley's career began in the sixties, first as part of the Tricky Johnson Sextet and then the Uhuru Dance Band before releasing his 1973 single, “Simigwa-Do”, which is often considered the first-ever rap song to be released commercially. He founded the Apagya Show Band in 1974 with Ebo Taylor and Gyedu-Blay Ambolley and is wildly known in his native country for combining the highlife sound with North American soul and funk. Ambolley has played in a number of other bands including Houghas Extraordinaires, Meridians of Tema, and
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