Customer Reviews

Explorer: Ghana - High-Life & Other Music

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One of the most fascinating and unique sounding of the recently-rereleased early Nonesuch Explorer albums. Ghanian highlife pioneer Saka Acquaye hosted this loose-edged, jazz-tinged jam session, which blends standard old-school highlife music (and its calypsonian roots) with playful, exploratory free jazz. American saxophonist Charles Earland is a key participant in these freewheeling. improvisational sessions, adding an authoritative jazz feel to the delicate clamour of a keening vocal chorus and erratic, seemingly chaotic percussive patterns. This is a very different sound for this musical style, although one suspects it's also truer to highlife's early, informal roots. Similar at times to Alice Coltrane's early '70s afrocentric jazz ramblings, but more focused and more fun. A cool record... definitely worth checking out!

I purchased this exact playlist identically recorded in 1962 on a reel to reel tape. It was then called "Gold Coast Saturday night". I don't know what happened to it and have been looking for it ever since. Was I delighted to find it in his format. A grand mix of Bush, Jazz and third world party.