Ampomah, K. (2013). INDIGENOUS ORIGINS OF GHANAIAN HIGHLIFE MUSIC

The purpose of this paper is to examine the original indigenous music of the foundation emergence and the decline of Ghanaian highlife music.  The foundations of Ghanaian highlife music can be traced between the1880s and the 1920s through Ghanaian native entertainment music, colonial military and police marching bands, local masquerades, brass bands and the popular ‘concert’ party theatre. Ghanaian highlife music emerged on the scene from the 1920s to the 1970s.The first Ghanaian highlife music was recorded in 1928 in London by the Kumasi trio under the leadership of Jocob Sam. This indigenous music style was known as the palmwine highlife music. It rose to its peak during the independent and post independent eras with hits such as E. K. Annang’s ‘Onua do’ and E..H. K. Williams ‘mene wobeko Tamale’. The momentum was sustained in the post-independent era by Daniel Amponsah’s rendition of ‘Yaa Amponsah’ and ‘Odo Akosomo’ and Kwaa Mensah’s ‘Odo me, me som do no’. The end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s saw the decline of indigenous Ghanaian highlife music with the advent of both popular music from Europe and America and electric guitar bands. Today, Daniel Amponsah popularly known as Koo Nimo stands as a living legend of the indigenous Ghanaian highlife music style.