Image via Riot Act Media
Music never sleeps and neither does Leonel.
On the natural sense of rhythm
“Rhythms live inside people naturally. The instinctive feeling then pushes you to learn from the experiences of people around you,” Ebo Taylor told me this during our recent interview about the cultural exchange that occurred during the making of Ebo Taylor JID022. The latest installment of the already iconic Jazz is Dead series features founders Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad joining forces with the legendary Ghanaian artist, his son Henry, and an assortment of international players.
You can argue that Ebo Taylor is the greatest rhythm guitarist in history. His contributions to music and popular culture in his native Ghana and beyond are indelible. With complete originality, he incorporated the diverse rhythmic traditions of the Ga, Ewe, Dagomba and his own Akan people into his compositions. Even at 90 years old and no longer able to play the guitar, his sprawling rhythmic sense and indomitable spirit remain intact.
Taylor’s body of work is defined by the opening groove, and how he can set a mood from the very first note. The warm organ riff of “Get Up” is played with the same urgency as a guitar doing clean quick upstrokes. Beyond being a celebration, the song is a call to action. As the refrain says: “Brothers, get up and do your thing.” It’s a reminder that Taylor has been a voice for social advance and the uplifting of his people’s spirit from the very beginning, making him a heroic figure of national pride.
In our interview, Taylor spoke to POW about Ghana, the spiritual element of Highlife, and more.
Ghana, Highlife and the social revolutions
“Highlife music has inspired and had significant impact on the people of Ghana and beyond because of its cultural heritage, fusion, lyrical storytelling, infectious rhythms and so on. Ghanaian highlife has a rich history and its development is closely tied to the country’s cultural,social and political evolution. The music shifted because the musical roots lie in traditional folk music, with diverse styles and instruments specific to various ethnic groups such as the Akan, Ewe and Dagomba.” — Ebo Taylor
Throughout the record, the ensemble engaged in the various steps in Highlife’s evolution: from its roots in Akan blues, to its gradual absorption of jazz and even to its psychedelia-tinged period. “Obra Akyedzi” and “Obi Do Owa.” These songs show the band more deeply immersed in the eternal dialogue between Ghanaian highlife and Nigerian afrobeat, particularly in Taylor’s close relationship with Fela Kuti, where both borrowed elements from one another. This is especially noticeable in the way brass flourishes are woven into the pockets of the groove and in the handling of space within the production.
In “Kusi Na Sibo,” a standout track driven by Muhammad’s thick basslines, the influence of older rhythmic patterns—such as palm-wine, osibisaaba and Akan traditional styles, passed down through generations of tunes—is even more evident.
On the spiritual element of Highlife
“I will always say that music is spiritual, it has been an integral part of human culture for centuries. Music transcends words and linguistic barriers, evolving emotions and connecting people across cultures and beliefs. I always seek the direction of my maker” — Ebo Taylor
Slower pieces like “Nsa a w’oanye edwuma Odzidzi” and “Feeling,” penetrate the body. The songs are testament to the spiritual element of Taylor’s music. There’s an innate biological pulse that can be felt in his approach to leading this multigenerational group – from the moment Younge lays down his first bassline to how the horns and flute melodies appear and move as an expansive wave. Yet it’s in the drum-and-conga combo where the key to its immense power resides, both here and throughout the entire album: the sinuous interplay of phrasings between the two instruments, and the sonic alchemy of Philip Andy Biney and Samson Olawe. Coupled with the masterful production, it lends each beat, every fragment of the tracks, a tremendous density.
Despite his age, Taylor still feels undoubtedly the head of this project; it is his deep, soulful voice commanding the procedure, still brimming with the same vitality as his golden years where he helped shape Ghana’s modern cultural identity with his fusion of jazz, funk, and an assortment of regional styles. His son, Henry, an impressive musician in his own right, plays Fender Rhodes player throughout the record; the giants Younge and Muhammad exhibit deep respect and undeniable love for the music, and help create the proverbial “round-trip” that is highlife music – a redrawing of the grooves and sensibilities of the Mother Continent through the exchange of ancient and modern, North and South, coast to coast. This is a remarkable addition to Taylor’s already vast legacy and, hopefully, a window for new generations to gauge his significance.
