Ebo Taylor
Image: Sylvain lasco. CC BY-SA 4.0. Source.
Summary
Ebo Taylor was a Ghanaian guitarist, composer, arranger and producer whose work joined highlife with jazz, funk and Afrobeat. His contribution includes the sound of other performers' recordings as well as his own albums.[1]
Life and career
He worked with Ghanaian dance bands including the Stargazers and Broadway Dance Band, then spent time studying and playing in London. Encounters there with Fela Kuti were part of a wider exchange among African musicians. Back in Ghana, his arranging and production work included recordings with Pat Thomas and C. K. Mann.[1] Taylor died in February 2026.[2]
Music and style
Jazz-informed horn arrangement and highlife guitar are central resources. His recordings brought those resources together with funk grooves, while preserving relationships with Fante songs, proverbs and social life. Appia Kwa Bridge makes those connections explicit through traditional material and personal compositions, including a song named for a meeting place in Saltpond.[3]
Works and performances
Twer Nyame, Love and Death, Appia Kwa Bridge and Yen Ara provide entry points into different periods. Work with Berlin's Afrobeat Academy helped circulate the later recordings; the Appia Kwa Bridge sessions also credit Tony Allen. His influence traveled through producing, arranging, live performance and the later sampling of his catalogue.[1][3]
Selected recordings in MuGlobe:
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Los Angeles Philharmonic: Ebo Taylor artist biography. Accessed 23 October 2026.
- ↑ The Guardian: Ebo Taylor obituary, 9 February 2026. Accessed 23 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Strut: Appia Kwa Bridge, artist and session notes. Accessed 23 October 2026.