Ghanian highlife music pioneer, Ebo Taylor, was reported dead a day after the launch of the Ebo Taylor Music Festival.
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| Ebo Taylor ©Getty Images |
Ghanian highlife music pioneer, Ebo Taylor, was reported dead a day after the launch of the Ebo Taylor Music Festival and exactly a month after his 90th birthday. Reminiscing on his impact and the greatness with which he influenced the African music culture, particularly the highlife genre, Ebo Taylor is revered as one who transformed Ghanaian music the same way Fela Kuti did for Nigerian's earning him the appellation, "the greatest rhythm guitarist in history".
Establishing the same while he was alive, in a 2014 interview with BBC, Taylor said, “With the advent of James Brown and funk music, there was the opportunity to develop highlife music. Fela did a lot of work introducing the funk into the Yoruba music, while comparatively I did almost the same thing in Ghana.”
Taylor credited Fela Kuti as a key influence who encouraged him to create distinctly African music, to which he incorporated the influence of Dvořák and Davis's music style and elements in his own musical traditions. He told the Vinyl Factors in 2018, “I do believe that it is important for music to progress; otherwise, it just becomes something for museums, but you have to know your traditional culture before you start adding things to it.”
In his lifetime, Taylor has received several lifetime achievement awards from Ghanaian and highlife music organisations. His songs have also been sampled by popular international artists, including Jidenna, Usher, Kelly Rowland, the Black Eyed Peas and Vic Mensa.
“We lost a legend whose contribution to music has created worldwide ripples. I take solace in the fact that I witnessed greatness in Uncle Ebo Taylor’s art form. Rest In Power!” says Black Sheriff, a Ghanaian rapper, in tribute to Taylor.
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