It's almost April, the month in which nature and its people slowly crawl out of their shells again. It’s the beginning of a long-lasting spring, full of exciting ideas, unfulfilled dreams, and tantalizing challenges. The cycle starts all over again, everything can still happen. In short, the world is in the process of reincarnation, not coincidentally also the name of one of the tracks on Peter Somuah's new album, which will be released at the end of next month.
In this layered composition, Somuah explores the boundaries between jazz, funk, and traditional Ghanaian music, mixed with a very small touch of electronics. He does so with none other than the living icon, the 'James Brown of Ghana': Gyedu-Blay Ambolley. His jazzy and soulful approach to highlife music hit like a bomb in the early 1970s. He played, for example, in the Uhuru Dance Band, and learned his full-fat afro-funk sound from Ebo Taylor. Nowadays, more than forty years and thirty albums further, Ambolley is a living legend.
Together with Somuah's strong trumpet playing, Ambolley's still solid vocals provide a modern classic, a hell of a track, that makes you curious about the rest of the new album. That such an authority wants to join forces with one of our country's most promising talents can only be seen as a huge step forward for the scene.
Letter to the Universe will be released on the 28th of April via ACT Records.
Also, the Peter Somuah Group will play live at Tolhuistuin, Amsterdam, on June 3rd.
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