Igbo Amaka

Highlife music is most closely associated with Ghana, but the genre's roots extend across West Africa and beyond. Okwy Osadebe is a Nigerian vocalist who bears the legacy of his father Chief Osita Osadebe, who was a prolific proponent of Igbo highlife. The Igbo highlife of today incorporates hip-hop and electronic dance music but Okwy Osadebe's album uses a more traditional template, harking back to his father's heyday in the 1980s.

Each track establishes an infectious groove centred on polyrhythmic percussion and rippling guitar riffs, which percolate for typically ten minutes. Evolutions and interjections are understated, tending toward the rhythmic rather than the harmonic, resulting in a meditative sense of stasis.

Okwy Osadebe's style is somewhat more laid back than his father's. There is an unhurriedness to the interplay between Okwy's vocals and the alto sax of Innocent Chinonso Ezeonyebuchi on ‘Odi Nduka’ or the muted trumpet of Michael Chijioke Orji on the title track. The guitar tones of Chief Osadebe's 1984 smash hit ‘Osondi Owendi’ are more raw and urgent by comparison. A respectful record then, but one which avoids being derivative.