Item: Obiaa!
Rating: 10
Author: guardian

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Obiaa! by Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band reviewed by guardian — 10/10 | Wavelength | Wavelength

sparkling highlife reinvention

Dubbed “the golden voice of Africa”, Thomas has been performing his honeyed tenor on highlife tracks for the past 50 years – a feat only rivalled by peer Ebo Taylor. Both men have recently had career-defining revivals, with Taylor releasing the excellent Appia Kwa Bridge in 2012 and Thomas making an album with the Kwashibu Area Band in 2015. Following a world tour for that record and the acquisition of a younger, globalised fanbase, Thomas’s second outing with his band is aptly called Obiaa! – everyone.

There is a palpable feeling of joyous inclusivity on Obiaa!, one that is harnessed in that necessary exclamation point, as this is active, kinetic music. While Thomas’s lyrics aphoristically tackle the perils of “showing off on social media” on Onfa Nkosi Hwee and the merits of “being patient in life” on Ntobuase, he delivers each line with an unshakeable optimism, his “golden voice” still radiant and full of light.

Bandleader Kwame Yeboah keeps the rhythm section glued to their clattering clave patterns, with Kweku Mensah and Kwesi Yeboah providing the sparkling guitar melodies so integral to the genre. The opening suite of Onfa Nkosi Hwee, Yamona and Bubu take on the dance band tradition of highlife, with the horn section providing effusive bursts of harmonic counterpoint, while downbeat numbers such as Obinim and Odo Ankasa allow Thomas’s voice full reign over their love-lorn balladry. Amid our penchant for curated archive compilations of far-flung genres, here is the living, breathing testament to a music that is very much still alive and being championed by those who have spent their lives perfecting its craft. Long may it continue in all its world-spanning complexity.

Guatemalan singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno releases a luscious, string-laden collection of songs, ¡Spangled!, celebrating the music of the Americas from Panamanian bolero to Brazilian bossa nova. Accompanied by storied producer Van Dyke Parks, Moreno presents a beguiling argument for the power of musical migration. Cuban trumpeter Yelfris Valdés releases his debut album, For the Ones …, an experimental mix of Yoruban chants, undulating electronics, piercing horns and propulsive Cuban jazz. It’s an engrossing and expansive listen. Fellow Cuban Roberto Fonseca also releases his ninth album, Yesun, a tight-knit trio set that traverses the pianist’s mastery of Afro-Cuban rhythms, as well as modern classical and even reggaeton. Highlights are the plaintive Por Ti and the frenetic Aggua.

Ghanaian highlife music has never been a single statement of artistic intent. Birthed from the indigenous rhythms of Akan music and incorporating western instrumentation such as electric guitars and horns before being played in the 1920s at exclusive gatherings of the upper colonial class – hence the music’s name – to now fusing American rap motifs in the sub-genre hiplife, Ghana’s most popular musical export is ever-changing. Yet, one of its greatest living exponents, vocalist Pat Thomas, has also been one of its most consistent representatives. Dubbed “the golden voice of Africa”, Thomas has been performing his honeyed tenor on highlife tracks for the past 50 years – a feat only rivalled by peer Ebo Taylor. Both men have recently had career-defining revivals, with Taylor releasing the excellent Appia Kwa Bridge in 2012 and Thomas making an album with the Kwashibu Area Band in 2015. Following a world tour for that record and the acquisition of a younger, globalised fanbase, Thomas’s second outing with his band is aptly called Obiaa! – everyone. There is a palpable feeling of joyous inclusivity on Obiaa!, one that is harnessed in that necessary exclamation point, as this is active, kinetic music. While Thomas’s lyrics aphoristically tackle the perils of “showing off on social media” on Onfa Nkosi Hwee and the merits of “being patient in life” on Ntobuase, he delivers each line with an unshakeable optimism, his “golden voice” still radiant and full of light. Bandleader Kwame Yeboah keeps the rhythm section glued to their clattering clave patterns, with Kweku Mensah and Kwesi Yeboah providing the sparkling guitar melodies so integral to the genre. The opening suite of Onfa Nkosi Hwee, Yamona and Bubu take on the dance band tradition of highlife, with the horn section providing effusive bursts of harmonic counterpoint, while downbeat numbers such as Obinim and Odo Ankasa allow Thomas’s voice full reign over their love-lorn balladry. Amid our penchant for curated archive compilations of far-flung genres, here is the living, breathing testament to a music that is very much still alive and being championed by those who have spent their lives perfecting its craft. Long may it continue in all its world-spanning complexity. Guatemalan singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno releases a luscious, string-laden collection of songs, ¡Spangled!, celebrating the music of the Americas from Panamanian bolero to Brazilian bossa nova. Accompanied by storied producer Van Dyke Parks, Moreno presents a beguiling argument for the power of musical migration. Cuban trumpeter Yelfris Valdés releases his debut album, For the Ones …, an experimental mix of Yoruban chants, undulating electronics, piercing horns and propulsive Cuban jazz. It’s an engrossing and expansive listen. Fellow Cuban Roberto Fonseca also releases his ninth album, Yesun, a tight-knit trio set that traverses the pianist’s mastery of Afro-Cuban rhythms, as well as modern classical and even reggaeton. Highlights are the plaintive Por Ti and the frenetic Aggua.