Highlife
| Highlife | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Afro-pop • African music, Palm-wine music |
| Cultural origins | 1900s (decade), Ghana |
| Typical instruments | Guitar • horns • vocal |
| Subgenres | |
| Igbo highlife • Joromi | |
Highlife is a music genre that originated in Ghana at the turn of the 20th century and incorporated the traditional harmonic 9th, as well as melodic and the main rhythmic structures in traditional Akan music, and married them with Western instruments and ideas. Highlife was associated with the local African aristocracy during the colonial period. Highlife spread to Sierra Leone, Liberia, Gambia and Nigeria via Ghanaian workers, among other West African countries, by the 1930s. It is very popular in Liberia and all of English-speaking West Africa, although little has been produced in other countries due to economic challenges brought on by war and instability.
Highlife is characterised by jazzy horns and multiple guitars which lead the band. Recently it has acquired an uptempo, synth-driven sound (see Daddy Lumba). Igbo highlife and Joromi are subgenres.[1][2][3]
This arpeggiated highlife guitar part is modeled after an Afro-Cuban guajeo.[4] The pattern of attack-points is nearly identical to the 3-2 clave motif guajeo as shown below. The bell pattern known in Cuba as clave is indigenous to Ghana and Nigeria, and is used in highlife.[5]
Artists
Artists who perform the Highlife genre include:
Ghana
- A. B. Crentsil
- Adomako Nyamekye
- African Brothers International Band
- Alex Konadu
- Alhaji K. Frimpong
- Amakye Dede
- Atakora Manu
- Ben Brako
- Bessa Simons
- Charles Amoah
- Dr Aseibu Amanfi
- Dr. K. Gyasi & His Noble Kings
- Daasebre Gyamena
- Daddy Lumba
- E. T. Mensah
- Joe Mensah
- Ebo Taylor
- George Darko
- King Bruce
- Kofi B
- Koo Nimo
- Kwaa Mensa
- Kwadwo Akwaboah Jr
- Kyeremateng Stars
- Marriott International band
- Nana Acheampong
- Nana Fynn
- Nana Kwame Ampadu
- Nana Tuffuor
- Oheneba Kissi
- Osibisa
- Paa Kow
- Paapa Yankson
- Pat Thomas
- Pozo Hayes
- Rex Omar
- Thomas Frimpong
Nigeria
- Fela Kuti in his first band, Koola Lobitos
- Flavour N'abania
- Sonny Okosuns
- Prince Nico Mbarga
- Bola Abimbola
- Oliver De Coque
- Tunji Oyelana
- Victor Olaiya
- Victor Uwaifo
- Rex Lawson
- Bola Johnson
- Oriental Brothers International
- Solomon Ilori
- Dr Sir Warrior
- King Bruce
- Lungu Lungu
- Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe
- Babá Ken Okulolo
- Orlando Owoh
- Roy Chicago
- Tunde Nightighale-The one with the sonorous voice
- Adeolu Akinsanya
- Kayode Fashola
- Fatai Rolling Dollars
Sierra Leone
Highlife in jazz
- Saxophonist Pharoah Sanders recorded a song called "High Life" on Rejoice (1981).
- Pierre Dørge and his New Jungle Orchestra played in the highlife style, e.g. on Even the Moon Is Dancing (1985).
- Guitarist Sonny Sharrock had a song called "Highlife" on the album of the same name (1990).
- Craig Harris (trombone) had a song called "High Life" on the album F-Stops (1993)
- High Life is an album by jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter that was released on Verve Records in 1995.
- Pianist Randy Weston recorded an album called Highlife in 1963, featuring compositions by West African musicians Bobby Benson ("Niger Mambo") and Guy Warren ("Mystery of Love").
References
- ↑ "Igbo Highlife Music". Pamela Stitch. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ↑ Oti, Sonny (2009). Highlife Music in West Africa. African Books Collective. ISBN 978-978-8422-08-2.
- ↑ Davies, Carole Boyce (2008). Encyclopedia of the African diaspora: Origins, experiences, and culture. ABC-CLIO, Inc. p. 525. ISBN 978-1-85109-700-5.
- ↑ Eyre, Banning (2006: 9). "Highlife guitar example" Africa: Your Passport to a New World of Music. Alfred Pub. ISBN 0-7390-2474-4
- ↑ Peñalosa, David (2010: 247). The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins. Redway, CA: Bembe Inc. ISBN 1-886502-80-3.
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