My Love And Music

By 1976 Ebo Taylor had already made an name for himself playing in highlife big bands like Broadway Dance Band and Stargazers, lived in London where he studied music and met Fela Kuti, and returned to Ghana to work as the in-house guitarist, arranger, and producer for Ghanaian record label Essiebons. On his debut record My Love and Music he brings together some of the influences he’d absorbed along the way, with reggae, calypso, and ska vibes (possibly from his London days, where people from the Caribbean had brought with them the sounds and dances of their islands, transforming British sounds forever) giving the record a laid back, island feel.  “Odofo Nyi Akyiri Biara,” with its horn interjections, organ riffs, and joyful harmonies is classic Ebo Taylor, and a preview of the sound that would make him the undisputed  king of Ghanaian Afro-funk in decades to come.