Highlife is a music genre that started in West Africa, along the coastal cities of present-day Liberia in the 19th century, during its history as a colony of the British 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 African music, 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.
ECM is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's artists often refuse to acknowledge boundaries between genres. ECM's motto is "the most beautiful sound next to silence", taken from a 1971 review of ECM releases in Coda, a Canadian jazz magazine.
Steve Tibbetts is an American guitarist and composer. He views the recording studio as a tool for creating sounds. Most of his albums include percussionist Marc Anderson.
Marc Alan Johnson is an American jazz bass player, composer and band leader. Johnson was born in Nebraska and grew up in Texas. He is married to the Brazilian jazz pianist and singer Eliane Elias.
Mark Mallman is a Minnesota musician, film composer, and memoirist. Since 1998, he has released nine full-length studio albums, Happiness (2021) being his most recent.
Hiplife is a NigerianNigerian 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.
The Ga-Dangbe, Gã-Daŋbɛ, Ga-Dangme, or GaDangme are an ethnic group in Ghana, Togo and Benin. The Ga and Dangbe people are grouped respectively as part of the Ga–Dangme ethnolinguistic group. The Ga-Dangmes are one ethnic group that lives primarily in the Greater Accra of Ghana. Ethnic Ga family names (surnames) include Nikoi, Amon, Kotey, Kotie, Adei, Kutorkor, Oblitey, Lartey, Nortey, Aryee, Poku and Lamptey. The following are names derived from the ethnic Dangme and common among the Ningos Nartey, Tetteh, Kwei, Kweinor, Kwetey, Narteh, Narh, Dugbatey, Teye, Martey, Addo, Siaw, Saki, Amanor, Djangba. These are aligned to the ethnic Ga as well: Lomotey, Tetteh, Ankrah, Tetteyfio, Laryea, Ayitey, Okai, Bortey, Quaye, Quaynor, Ashong, Kotei, Sowah, Odoi, Ablor, Adjetey, Dodoo, Darku and Quartey.
Soul to Soul is a 1971 documentary film about the Independence Day concert held in Accra, Ghana ,on 6 March 1971. It features an array of mostly American R&B, soul, rock, and jazz musicians.
Six Degrees Records is an independent record label noted for its catalog of recordings from international musicians and vocalists.
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.
Ghanaians in the United Kingdom encompass both Ghana-born immigrants and their descendants living in the United Kingdom. Immigration to the UK accelerated following the independence of Ghana from the British Empire in 1957, with most British Ghanaians having migrated to the UK between the 1960s to the 1980s owing to poor economic conditions at home.
Lee Townsend is an American independent music producer, curator, artist manager and co-owner of Songtone, specializing in recordings of singer-songwriters, contemporary composers, improvising musicians, and cross-cultural musical collaborations. He is also a psychotherapist in private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Edward Nana Poku Osei known by the showbiz name Hammer of The Last Two is a Ghanaian record producer. He is the founder and CEO of The Last Two Music Group and known for growing Ghanaian Hip Hop or Hiplife artists, including Obrafour, Tinny, Kwaw Kese, Sarkodie, Ayigbe Edem, among others. He is sometimes credited as one of the people in the popularization of Hiplife or Hip Hop made in Ghana.
Richie Mensah, better known by his stage name Richie, is a Ghanaian singer-songwriter and record producer. After producing records for several artists, Richie set up Lynx Entertainment record label and released his debut album All of Me on the label in 2008. He has since then gone on to win several awards both as a singer and record producer and is fast establishing himself as one of the biggest names in the Ghanaian music industry.
Yr is the second album by American guitarist and composer Steve Tibbetts, originally released on the independent Minneapolis label Frammis Records in 1980, and rereleased by ECM in 1988. The sextet features bassist Bob Hughes and percussionists Marc Anderson, Steve Cochrane, Marcus Wise and Tim Weinhold.
Ebo Taylor is a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, bandleader, record producer and arranger focusing on highlife and afrobeat music.
Sarkology is the third studio album by Ghanaian hip-hop recording artist Sarkodie. It was released by Duncwills Entertainment on January 2, 2014. Primarily recorded in Twi, the album features guest appearances from Fuse ODG, Davido, Tiwa Savage, Banky W., Timaya, 2 Face Idibia, Efya, Mugeez, Obrafour, Burna Boy, Vivian Chidid, Vector, Silvastone, Sk Blinks, Stonebwoy, Joey B, J Town, Lil Shaker, Raquel, Sian, Kofi B and AKA. Its production was handled by Magnom, Hammer, KillBeatz, Masterkraft and Silvastone, among others.
Sony Kwame Owusu, known professionally as Kayso , From Tema or Beat Nyame, is a Ghanaian record producer, and recording artist from Ashanti Region. KaySo has produced singles for a number of well known artists in diverse genres, ranging from Hip Hop, Afrobeats, R&B, Afroswing, Hiplife and Highlife. Artists KaySo has worked with include Becca, Kwesi Arthur, KiDi, Sarkodie, Medikal, Ice Prince, Darkovibes, $pacely, Kofi Mole, Dj Mic Smith, Kirani Ayat, Wiyaala, Stonebwoy, Blaqbonez, Pappy Kojo, Cina Soul, Mugeez, Offei and Magnom.
