"Ghana Popular Music 1931-1957" features a cross-section through the popular music of southern Ghana of the late colonial period as it was then recorded and distributed on 78rpm Shellac records by the Union Trading Company (UTC) of Basel, Switzerland. A compilation of 21 songs will take you on a fascinating journey of discovery through a rich and complex metissage of influences, rythms, instruments and stiles, ranging from the rurally oriented palm wine music to the urban swinging dance bands of the 50s. The 20 page booklet contains an introduction to the popular music of Ghana written by Highlife specialist Prof. John Collins of the University of Ghana and the Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation. The songs or the titles are translated and commented upon. The compact disc results from a pilot project which aims at preserving and digitising an important collection of music from Ghana and Nigeria held at Basel, Switzerland. This is to make this music accessible again both to people in its countries of origin and to the interested public in general.

As a musician 77 years old Nyama plays the rural form of palm wine music, the so called Akan-Blues (Odonson). His lyrics are full of proverbs from the Akan culture. Already in 1953 he recorded songs with UTC which were released on the Parlophone label the following year.

Hifi sound files, text (by Veit Arlt), references, and more

The band Local Dimension specialises in a modern but unplugged style of Palm Wine Music which fuses coastal forms with elements of the music of the northern part of Ghana, giving it a remarkable Sene-Gambian touch. Local Dimension is based at Legon University in Ghana and headed by John Collins (see above), who plays the guitar and blues-harp. Its key-instrumentalist and vocalist is Aaron Bebe Sukura from the Upper West region of Ghana. He is a virtuoso on the Seperewa (harp-lute similar to the Kora), the Sanza (lamellophone, also called thumb piano or Mbira in Zimbabwe) and the Gyil (xylophone).

See the websites of Prof. John Collins and Aaron Bebe Sukura for hifi sound files, biographies, references, pictures and recent publications.

Koo Nimo is Ghana's foremost exponent of acoustic guitar highlife. He was taught classical guitar in his late 20s, and his delicate finger-picking style has absorbed a diverse range of influences ranging from jazz to classical.

Hifi sound files, references, publications, and more

Donald Kachamba, born in Blantyre, in 1953, is considered one of the outstanding musician-composers of the middle generation in south-eastern Africa. Born in a musical family he has contributed enormously to the development of the kwela (flute-jive) tradition.

Hifi sound files, text (by Gerhard Kubik), references, and more

The valimba is a huge gourd-resonated xylophone built on a box-like plank frame, played virtuously by the Kambazithe Makolekole Band, one of the best valimba groups in southern Malawi. The music of the group is known for its "shimmering patterns of sound of breakneck tempo, its sudden repeated notes, and its rich harmonic sequences" [A. Tracey, 1990].

Hifi sound files, text (by Moya Aliya Malamusi, German), references, and more