Gyedu-Blay Ambolley | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 1947 (age 75–76) |
| Origin | Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana Los Angeles, United States |
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| Years active | Early 1970s–present. [1] [2] |
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| Website | www |
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley is a Ghanaian highlife musician, songwriter, producer, and composer. The first musician from Ghana and the world to formally incorporate rap forms into local highlife rhythms, Ambolley created the musical genre Simigwa. [5]
Gyedu-Blay Ambolley was rather unknown outside of West Africa until Soundway Records included his seminal Simigwa-Do, [6] which Ambolley released in 1973, on their first anthology, Ghana Soundz. [7] Ambolley's sound has led many to label him the godfather of hiplife, the fusion of hip hop and highlife [2] idioms. Ambolley stood aside AL Threats at the Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles.His song Simigua-do is considered the first Ghanaian version of previously introduced American rap in the world released in 1973 . Ambolley, Sammy Lartey and Ebo Taylor are the few musicians who envisioned a future for high-life music in the late 60s and early 70s and helped transform the genre fusing high-life, funk and jazz [8] [9] music.
In June 2015 Ambolley received a citation in the US from the City Council of Philadelphia, [10] read by Council woman; Honorable Jannie Blackwell and Hon. Stanley, J. Staughter in recognition of the musician's contributions to Ghanaian music in the USA.
Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions of African metre and western jazz melodies. It uses the melodic and main rhythmic structures of traditional Akan music, Kpanlogo Music of the Ga people, but is typically played with Western instruments. Highlife is characterized by jazzy horns and multiple guitars which lead the band and its use of the two-finger plucking guitar style that is typical of African music. Recently it has acquired an uptempo, synth-driven sound.
There are many styles of traditional and modern music of Ghana, due to Ghana's worldwide geographic position on the African continent.
Guy Warren of Ghana, also known as Kofi Ghanaba, was a Ghanaian musician, best known as the inventor of Afro-jazz — "the reuniting of African-American jazz with its African roots" — and as a member of The Tempos, alongside E. T. Mensah. He also inspired musicians such as Fela Kuti. Warren's virtuosity on the African drums earned him the appellation "The Divine Drummer". At different stages of his life, he also worked as a journalist, DJ and broadcaster.
Hiplife is a Ghanaian musical style that fuses Ghanaian culture and hip hop. Recorded predominantly in the Ghanaian Akan language, hiplife is rapidly gaining popularity in the 2010s throughout West Africa and abroad, especially in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and Germany.
Daddy Lumba is a Ghanaian singer-songwriter and musician and has about 34 albums to his name. Lumba was born Charles Kwadwo Fosuh in a village called Nsuta Amangoase in the Sekyere Central District, near Mampong in the Ashanti Region. He is widely regarded as the greatest Ghanaian musician of all time.
Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection.
Emmanuel Tettey Mensah, was a Ghanaian musician who was regarded as the "King of Highlife" music. He led The Tempos, a band that toured widely in West Africa.
"Psychedelic Woman" is a 1973 Ghanaian song by Honny & the Bees Band. It was written and sung by Ernest Aubrey Honny, who worked mainly as a session keyboardist and recording engineer. Over a medium-tempo groove, the song begins with a spoken-word story concerning a "psychedelic woman" first spotted at a nightclub. The story ends with a transitional climax to a sung chorus of several voices. There are several more choruses, interspersed with solo singing, then a funky, jazzy electric organ solo, finishing with a brief recap of singing. Part and parcel of the afrobeat sound then becoming popular in Ghana, influences include reggae, James Brown, and perhaps even Britain's mods.
Ebo Taylor is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, record producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music.
Kojo Antwi, also known as "Mr. Music Man", is a Ghanaian Afro pop, highlife and reggae musical artist. Born Julius Kojo Antwi into a family of 13 siblings, he grew up in Darkuman a suburb of Accra. He has 22 albums to his name, with "Tom & Jerry" became one of his most popular songs in West Africa Ghana.A former Ghamro chairman
Nana Kwame Ampadu was a Ghanaian musician and composer credited with numerous popular highlife tracks and he is known to have composed over 800 songs. He was also known as Adwomtofo Nyinaa Hene. Ampadu was the lead singer, chief songwriter, and founder of the "African Brothers Band". He is regarded as a pioneer of highlife music and one of the most illustrious Ghanaian musicians of the 20th century.
Soundway Records is a British, London-based independent record label, founded and run by English DJ and music producer Miles Cleret. Since its initial release of a collection of Ghanaian music in 2002, it has released compilation albums of African, Caribbean, Latin, and Asian music from the 1950s to 1980s.
Emmanuel Owusu-Bonsu, known by his stage name Wanlov the Kubolor is a Ghanaian-Romanian musician and film director born to an Akan father and a Romanian mother. Kubolor is a Ga word that essentially means truant, but can be understood to be a wanderer or vagabond. He is the brother of the television show host, model, and musician Deborah Owusu-Bonsu.
Jewel Ackah was a Ghanaian highlife and gospel musician. He composed the lyrics of "Arise Arise," the party anthem of the centre-left Ghanaian political party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), popularly sung to the tune of the Christian hymn, "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus". He was dubbed by media pundits as the "Prince of Highlife".
Prince Gyasi Nyantakyi also known by the artist name Prince Gyasi is a Ghanaian international visual artist. He is the co-founder of Boxedkids, a non-profit organization helping kids from Accra get an education.
Orlando Julius Aremu Olusanya Ekemode, known professionally as Orlando Julius or Orlando Julius Ekemode was a Nigerian saxophonist, singer, bandleader, and songwriter closely associated with afrobeat music.
Justice Nii Adjiri Williams, popularly known as Shikome is a Ghanaian master drummer. He was born on 3 June 1978 in Avenor, Accra, Ghana into a family of accomplished musicians and drummers including Okeyrema Akoto, Obo Addy, Mustapha Tetteh Addy, Yacub Addy and Aja Addy. In 2013, he was installed Obonufoi Atsɛ Nii Tlema II of Sowutuom Nsunfa after his grandfather Obo Addy who was Obonufoi Atsɛ Nii Tlema I. This position entitles him to lead all official drumming assignments for the Gã State.
Dick Essilfie Bondzie was a Ghanaian musician, producer and founder of Essiebons label.
Kwesi Owusu is a Ghanaian writer, filmmaker, and creative entrepreneur. He is considered "one of Ghana’s leading filmmakers and communications specialists" and is also the author of five books. In the 1980s, he was a founding member of the influential pan-African performance group African Dawn. Since 2022, Owusu has hosted the African Dawn podcast, covering "untold stories" from Africa's cultural history as well as current trends in the arts world.
Joshua Nkansah popularly called Joshua Moszi is a Ghanaian guitarist and composer. In 2021, he received a certificate from the Grammy Awards in appreciation of his work as a composer on Angelique Kidjo's Mother Nature, which took home the award for best global music album at the 64th Grammy Awards.
| Authority control: Artists |
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