Customer Reviews

Ghana Electric Highlife: Sessions From The Bokoor Studios

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A really splendid set of mellow Ghanaian highlife music. Although these tracks were recorded in the early 1980s, they have the warm, relaxed feel of classic material from the '60s... Maybe at the time the folks at the independent Bokoor label were a little out of step with the move towards glossy Afro-pop that emanated out from Paris, but hey... more power to them! I like this stuff a lot better!

If you love the beautiful, chiming, high-register electric guitar sounds of highlife and other forms of African music (such as "Twist" music from Kenya), this collection will not dissapoint. The production is primitive and at certain points you can actually hear crickets chirping in the background (cool!). However, the performances are stellar across the board with wonderful vocal harmonies, driving percussion, and, of course, those heavenly sounding electric guitars. This is authentic, un-messed-with African music that hasn't been altered to suit mainstream western tastes. Yet, it's still accessable to anyone with even a remotely open mind.

I had only read about highlife, but had never actually heard any of it before listening to this. BOY! Is this good stuff! Delightful instrumentation, lovely harmonies, uptempo beats, and stuff that makes you want to JUMP UP! JUMP UP! While you don't have to understand the languages spoken here to enjoy this, there is a translation sheet that helps. A lot of these tunes have some very profound messages in the midst of the fun. But enough of that-just buy it and kiss your troubles goodbye for a while. JUMP UP! JUMP UP!

This CD is one of the best highlife compilations that i have. i am not a ghanaian and i could not understand a word of the lyrics in most of the tracks but it never really mattered. i am virtually familiar with all the old and current stars of Ghanaian highlife i.e E.T Mensah, Nana Ampadu, Alex Konadu, A.B Crentsil etc but this compilation contains mostly lesser known artists. The title "electric highlife" really describes the tracks as it contains some very good guitar works. If you like nice guitar rhythms and really want highlife music that is original, you cannot go wrong with this compilation. It is a mixed bag and there is something for everyone. i particularly like tracks 1,2,4,5,6,7 and 11

These songs are familiar to my father and I. My father being a Ghanian and I being half-Ghanian can enjoy listening and dancing to the electric guitars and the rhythm of these songs. Recorded at Bokoor Studios in the 1980s, these songs are an all-time favorite to those who grew up listening to highlife as well those who are newcomers to this style of music. In addition to knowing what the songs are about, it provides insightful information to the history of highlife music.