Osibisa

Osibisa, one of the most important jazz-rock bands ever, was founded in 1969 and made a very interesting fragment of musical history during 70s. Musicians from Ghana join jazz, funk, fusion, caribbean, r&b, latino and african rhythms. This legendary band from Ghana made 20 studio albums; Osibisa worked with many popular jazz musicians, Thin Lizzy, with Stevie Wonder and others. The best known albums are: Osibisa (1971), Woyaya (1971), and African Flight (1981). Osibisa is a band, founded in London in the year 1969 by four African and three Caribbean musicians, who peaked in popularity in the 1970s. They were one of the first widely popular African bands.[1] Contents [hide] * 1 History * 2 Musicians * 3 Discography o 3.1 Albums o 3.2 Singles o 3.3 DVDs o 3.4 Literature * 4 References * 5 External links [edit] History Founding members included Ghanaians Teddy Osei (saxophone), Sol Amarfio (drums) and Mac Tontoh (trumpet); Grenadian Spartacus R (bass); Trinidadian Robert Bailey (keyboard); Antiguan Wendell Richardson (lead guitar); and Nigerian Lasisi Amao (percussionist and tenor saxophone). Ghanaians Darko Adams Potato (died 1995) and Kiki Djan (died 2004) were also members of the band. Osibisa describes itself as the godfathers of world music, claiming to have paved the way for more famous musicians like Bob Marley, who became popular in the mid-1970s. Their music is described as a fusion of African, Caribbean, jazz, rock, Latin and R&B. Many of Osibisa's works are highly danceable. A fair comparison would be to Earth, Wind, & Fire from the USA only with a “world” flair. Both groups feature highly complicated and sophisticated dance music with Afro-Caribbean bass-drum grooves and dynamic horn charts. (example: Ojah Awake) Both groups could be criticized as “insipid disco” on titles which seek a more commercial appeal. (example:Dance the Body Music, Lets Do It) The name Osibisa was actually described by the band members to mean "criss cross rhythms that explode with happiness". They also classified their music as "Afro Rock". The band went through many incarnations with the founder members Teddy Osei, Mac Tontoh and Sol Amafio being the only original members that stayed with most incarnations. They originally favoured instrumentals which were heavily interlaced with African chants and percussions as well as a well organized horn section featuring Tedi Osei and MacTontoh, all this underpinned with an aggressive bass line. Their style influenced many of the emerging African musicians of the time. [edit] Musicians * Saxophone — Teddy Osei * Trumpet — Colin Graham * Percussion, Congas — Kofi Ayivor * Drums — Sol Amarfio * Keyboards — Bessa Simons, Kwame Yeboah, Chris Jerome * Guitars — Kari Bannerman, Gregg Kofi Brown * Bass Guitar — Victor Mensah, Gregg Kofi Brown [edit] Discography [edit] Albums * 1971 - Osibisa - (Billboard Hot 200 # 55) * 1971 - Woyaya - (Billboard # 66) * 1972 - Heads - (Billboard # 125) * 1973 - Best of Osibisa * 197X - Uhuru * 197X - The Warrior * 1974 - Superfly TNT (Billboard # 159) * 1973 - Happy Children * 1974 - Osibirock (Billboard # 175) * 1975 - Welcome Home (Billboard # 200) * 1976 - Ojah Awake * 1977 - Black Magic Night: Live at the Royal Festival Hall * 198X - Africa We Go Go * 198X - Ayiko Bia * 1980 - Mystic Energy * 1981 - African Flight * 1983 - Unleashed * 1984 - Live at the Marquee 1983 * 1989 - Jambo * 1989 - Movements * 1992 - Criss Cross Rhythms * 1992 - Warrior * 1994 - Celebration: The Best of Osibisa * 1994 - The Very Best of Osibisa * 1995 - Unleashed * 1995 - African Flight * 1997 - Monsore * 1997 - Hot Flashback Volume 1 * 1997 - The Best of Osibisa * 1997 - The Best of Osibisa (2 CDs) * 1998 - Ultimate * 1998 - Live At Croperdy * 2001 - Aka Kakra (Acoustic Live) * 2002 - Millennium Collection * 2003 - African Dawn, African Flight * 2004 - Wango Wango * 2005 - Blue Black Night (Live) (2 CDs) [edit] Singles * "Music for Gong Gong" * "Sunshine Day" (1976) * "Dance the Body Music" * "Coffee Song" * "Fire" * "Ojah Awake" [edit] DVDs