Edzayawa

"The Future Keyboard Player Of Edzayawa Went To Play In A Nightclub In Togo Where He Met Two Ghanians At A Club. They Played A Repertoire Of Hendrix/Stones/Beatles But Since It Was A Time That Osibisa Fela Kuti Started To Play Going For An African Identity In Rock Music Wasn’t So Unusual Any Longer So With A New Repertoire The Band Headed To Nigeria Where They Met Fela And Played In The Shrine. It Was In Nigeria Where They Were Able To Record Their Album. In Nigeria Their Afro-Rock Style Was Generally Understood. But When They Went Back To Ghana The Band Had A More Tough Time To Survive So After Two Years They Disbanded And Didn’t Record Anything Else. There Was Something Extremely Original About The Album. First Of All The Rhythms Being Used Are Unlike Those On Any Other Album. The 6/8 Rhythms Originate From The Anlo Ewe Musical Culture Of South Eastern Ghana Where They Had A Very Known Drul Ensemble Called The Atsimevu Drum Ensemble Consisting Of A Master Drum Atsimevu And Supporting Drums Kidi Kayan Koroboto And A Gong. The Band In Fact Plays Such Unusual Rhythms The Whole Time With Breaks And Changes Within One Song. The Singing Is More Afrobeat With Lead Singing And Responses Or Group Singing. Another Very Attractive Element Is Of Course The Organ Improvising Accents Or Solos. On The Last Track The Keyboard Solo Has Something In Between Blues And A Middle Eastern Dance Which Is Also Something Very Original. Secondly The Electric Guitar Improvisations Are Very Good Too With Here And There A Blues Rock Touch. Only In One Track Is A Small Funky Progression. The Combinations Of Percussion/guitar/organ Are Never Predictable As If Rooted In An Ear To Effective Combinations And With A Folk Roots Still In Their Mind. On The Second Track Another Very Unusual Moment Is When They Play A Rather Off-Key Small Flute Solo With Some With Electric Guitar Chords Bass Percussion And Drums As A Folk-Rock Approach In The Most Inspired Sense. All This Makes This Album Something Very Special. Worth To Check Out !" read less