HIGH LIFE MUSIC A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Highlife is music is music of the soul, music of love, music of life, music of the people. Highlife music is a musical style mostly found in West Africa, and it’s indigenous to countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Highlife music is a blend between traditional polyrhythmic styles and western guitar and musical influences. Highlife music was distinguished by a heavy base, brass band backing and guitar rhythms and other percussion instruments.



Why the name highlife music? The particular type of music received its name highlife because of the people it catered to at balls, birthday parties etc. The name became synonymous with the European upper classes in the 1920’s trying to keep a sense of home in the colonies.



In Ghanaian musical history, and especially highlife in the 50’s 60’s and 70’se, the trumpeter E.T. Mensah and his Tempo’s band is one of the famous proponents of the sound. Other artists that favour highlife and maintain it since the fifties include Nana Ampadu and his band the African Brothers and A.B. Crentsil, Ramblers International and the Professional Uhuru Dance Band.



In the 80’s however, highlife music was underwent a transformation. As a matter of fact, immigrated musicians to Germany utilized facilities available to them to create highlife which was instrumentally different from the brass band backed music of the old. The new sound used synthesiser and drum machines beats. The music nevertheless was accepted in Ghana and thus became popular. As usual, Ghanaian found a new name for this form of music and called it burgher highlife.