Jaku Mumor (Ancestral Spirit)

Born into a family of musicians and storytellers on Ghana's Atlantic coast, Okaidja Afroso learned to sing seafaring songs as a boy while working on the local fishing boats but at 19 he became a dancer with the Ghana Dance Ensemble. Eventually he returned to music and moved to the US where he joined Okropong, a traditional Ghanaian music and dance group directed by Obo Addy. This is his second solo album following 2017's The Palm Wine Sea and the follow-up delves felicitously into his maritime roots and the songs, chants and rituals of the indigenous Gãdangmé fishermen.

Singing gently in his native language, he translates ancient traditions into contemporary idioms with acoustic guitar accompaniment, pop harmonies and updated lyrics, backed by the palm wine guitar stylings of George Spratz, percussionist Israel Annoh and trombonist Elikplim Amewode Kofi. The result is a hypnotically mellow and melodic Afro-folk-jazz vibe, his contemporary arrangements interspersed with the authentic and atmospheric a cappella field recordings of the fishermen, creating fascinating contrasts of light and shade. The lyric translations are rather splendid, too – try ‘impatience bares no solid ground for spiritual advancement, keep focus on your own dancing feet, the boiling water will soon touch the lid.’ Sound advice, if ever there was.