11th Street, Sekondi

It is refreshing to know that the career of highlife singer and multi-instrumentalist Gyedu-Blay Ambolley appears to be on a roll. Reissues of his old albums, an ongoing live tour and new recordings are keeping the veteran (born in 1947) in the public eye. 11th Street, Sekondi refers to the area in the city of Sekondi-Takoradi in west Ghana where he grew up and is an album of all new material. It follows his 2017 release Ketan on the same label.

This is a beautifully relaxed album that gently swings between highlife and Afrobeat. Ambolley is vocally masterful, leading a super-tight band. He seems to be more comfortable performing this cooler mix rather than on some of his earlier recordings in which he dabbled with disco, attempted to be a jazz crooner or, rather unwisely, tried to cover Fela Kuti's ‘Lady’. Ambolley's version of Afrobeat is lyrically pithy but more humorous and good-natured than Kuti's. ‘Black Woman’ affectionately tackles the ‘problem’ that African women have with their hair. Titles like ‘I No Dey Talk I Do Dey Lie’, ‘Ignorance’, ‘Who Go Pay’, ‘Woman Treatment’ and the magnificent ‘Who Made Your Body Like Tat’ all indicate what the English/Pidgin subject matter might be. Brilliant musicianship, superb songs and great female backing vocals.