For those unaware, Ebo Taylor, born in 1936, is a pioneering Ghanaian musician who helped popularise highlife and afrobeat.
Taylor’s career took off in the late 1950s. He worked with influential groups like The Stargazes and The Broadway Dance Band and composed early highlife classics. It was in 1962 that Taylor took his group, The Black Star Highlife Band, to London. Then known as Deroy Taylor, he went to Britain to study at the renowned Eric Guilder School of Music in London. Already an accomplished and revered musician, Taylor helped nurture a scene of West African musicians and upcoming artists in London, notably a young Fela Kuti.
Upon returning to Ghana in 1965, Taylor joined the famous Uhuru Dance Band, where he eventually led the group in the early 70s. With his new role as a musician at the top of his game, he decided to help others. Taylor became a producer and from the mid-70s onwards, he was appointed the musical director and band arranger for two ground-breaking Ghanaian record companies, Essiebons und Gapophone. Here, he recorded musicians like Pat Thomas and C.K. Mann (if you’re unaware of these names, they are worth checking out!). Whilst producing and promoting other groups, he began to develop his sound, combining traditional Ghanaian music with jazz and funk, which consequently led to some of his greatest work, including albums like Ebo Taylor, the Pelikans and Twer Nyame.
In the 1980s and ‘90s, which were difficult times for Ghanaian musicians – Taylor worked as a freelance artist and began his academic career teaching Highlife and Jazz-guitar at the University of Ghana. It was in 2003, that Ebo Taylor featured on the first ever Soundway release, which began the process of Taylor’s music spreading across the globe. In 2011, the release of Taylor’s “Love & Death” (named after his famous song) for the British label Strut took off. Since then, Taylor has refused to slow down, still touring and releasing albums.
Taylor has significantly shaped Ghanaian music by creating his remarkable style of music combining some of the continent’s most popular music from Highlife to Jazz to Afrobeat. With longevity and a dedication to giving back, Taylor will always be considered one of the greats.
