Highlife
| Highlife | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1900s (decade), Ghana and Nigeria |
| Typical instruments | |
| Subgenres | |
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. Highlife was associated with the local African aristocracy during the colonial period. By the 1930s, Highlife spread via Ghanaian workers to Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Gambia among other West African countries, where the music is now very popular. Highlife has a part to play in most of the present day Nigerian and Ghanaian music as most of their artistes fuse it with their style of music.
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[edit]
Artists who perform the Highlife genre include:
Ghana[edit]
- A. B. Crentsil
- Adomako Nyamekye
- African Brothers International Band
- Alex Konadu
- Alhaji K. Frimpong
- Amakye Dede
- Atakora Manu
- Ben Brako
- Bessa Simons
- Blackbeat of Ghana
- Broadway Dance Band
- Charles Amoah
- Dr Aseibu Amanfi
- Dr. K. Gyasi & His Noble Kings
- Daasebre Gyamena
- Daddy Lumba
- E. T. Mensah
- Ebo Taylor
- George Darko
- Gyedu-Blay Ambolley
- Joe Mensah
- King Bruce
- Kofi B
- Koo Nimo
- Kwaa Mensa
- Kwadwo Akwaboah Jr
- Kyeremateng Stars
- Marriott International band
- Mohammed Seidu
- Nana Acheampong
- Nana Fynn
- Nana Kwame Ampadu
- Nana Tuffuor
- Oheneba Kissi
- Osibisa
- Paa Bobo
- Paa Kow
- Paapa Yankson
- Pat Thomas
- Pozo Hayes
- Ramblers Dance Band
- Rex Omar
- Thomas Frimpong
- Uhuru Dance Band
Nigeria[edit]
- Adeolu Akinsanya
- Babá Ken Okulolo
- Bola Johnson
- Bustic Bassey
- Celestine Ukwu
- Chief Peter Effiom
- Chief Inyang Nta Henshaw
- Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe
- David Egbo
- Dr Sir Warrior
- Fatai Rolling Dollars
- Fela Kuti in his first band, Koola Lobitos
- Flavour N'abania
- Kayode Fashola
- King Bruce
- Lungu Lungu
- Mighty Prince & The Garden City International Band
- Oliver De Coque
- Oriental Brothers International
- Orlando Owoh
- Prince Nico Mbarga
- Rex Lawson
- Roy Chicago
- Seagulls Band of Port Harcourt
- Solomon Ilori
- Sonny Okosuns
- Tunde Nightingale-The one with the sonorous voice
- Tunji Oyelana
- Victor Olaiya
- Victor Uwaifo
Sierra Leone[edit]
- S. E. Rogie
- Calenda
Highlife in jazz[edit]
- 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").
- Marcus Miller (bassist, multi-instrumentalist and producer) recorded a song called "Hylife" from the album Afrodeezia released on 17 March 2015.
References[edit]
- ^ "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.
