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Africa - the Rough Guide to the Music of Nigeria and Ghana: the Musical

With 400 ethnic groups in Nigeria alone, The Rough Guide to the Music of Nigeria and Ghana covers a vast canvas. So it's no wonder--and probably a sensible idea--that Fela Kuti, the Nigerian singer best known in the West, should not be included (on the grounds that his records are ubiquitous anyway). What's here is dominated by that quintessentially mid-20th century style known as the highlife, best exemplified by its undisputed king, ET Mensah. With his old-fashioned diction and immense charm he rides along on a gracefully Westernised instrumental sound; King Sunny Ade, who displaced him, and who was briefly picked up by Western promoters as a potential West African Bob Marley, uses hard-driving rhythms and clean a capella choruses. But on this superb CD, charm is the key element, with a multitude of variations on local rhythms and instrumental combinations. Check out the two-string gourd molo, as played with brilliant panache by Captain Yaba; revel in some of West Africa's best-loved party tracks, including those by CK Mann and Eric Ageyman. There's up-to-the-minute stuff from expatriate bands in America, and a wonderfully atmospheric gig with the last highlife king, Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe. --Michael Church

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