Kukurantumi

It is such a pleasure to hear some old-school Ghanaian highlife. In the 60s Amartey Hedzoleh was a member of the group Psychedelic Aliens and performed with them at the now legendary 1971 Soul to Soul concert in Accra. He went on to form Hedzoleh Soundz before embarking on his solo career, during which, in 1983, he recorded the soundtrack to a film called Kukurantumi: Road to Accra. The music on this CD is an expanded collection of re-recordings of music from the film that never received a release. Most of the tracks were recorded at John Collins’ Bokoor Studio, usually a good sign, and it is a thoroughly enjoyable and varied collection.

Some of the songs are traditional highlife and feature kalimba (thumb piano), jiri (xylophone) and gonje (gourd fiddle) – all played by Hedzoleh. However on the majority he plays electric guitar, with additional guitar from Jagger Botchway, a well-known Ghanaian musician who played with Hugh Masekela. It is a splendidly uplifting collection, with fine vocals and seductive instrumentation.