Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band

This is a new recording of old-school highlife and Afrobeat from one of Ghana's great vocalists, backed by a scorching band. Pat Thomas cut his highlife teeth in 1960s groups like the Broadway Dance Band and Stargazers. In the 80s he was at the centre of the ‘burger-highlife’ movement, the term describing music made by Ghanaian immigrants in Germany for export back home. This new recording, his first in over a decade, was made in Accra and mixed in Berlin, and sees him reunited with a mixture of old colleagues and some younger musicians. The intention for this eponymous album was clearly to make a record in the style of the 70s with pure instrumentation, eschewing any form of digital technology.

Guitars, Farfisa organ, brass, percussion and drum kit are all expertly played in a very lively and infectious style. One particular highlight is the drumming of Nigerian guest Tony Allen on three tracks. His deceptively slinky yet highly complex, ostensibly 4/4-time drum style has lost none of its potency. However, the entire ensemble provides a scintillating backing to the confident singing of Pat Thomas on all eight tracks on this excellent release.