Ebo Taylor's Appia Kwa Bridge mixes stylish jazz with Afrobeat grooves

Ghanaian singer and guitarist Ebo Taylor shows his jazz influences on Appia Kwa Bridge.

In the past decade there have been countless compilations documenting hitherto forgotten West African records from the early 1970s: musicians from Nigeria, Ghana and Benin playing an Africanised take on US funk and rock.

Ghanaian guitarist and singer Ebo Taylor was rescued from the sleevenotes of these compilations a few years ago when Berlin-based Afrobeat obsessive Ben Abarbanel-Wolff invited him into the studio to record a comeback album.

This follow-up features special guests – including legendary drummer Tony Allen – and mixes martial Afrobeat battle cries (Ayesama, Abonsam), heavy-duty funk (Kruman Dey), slinky jazz guitar solos (the title track) and unplugged Ghanaian hi-life guitar (Yaa Amponsah).

Barrima, an unaccompanied lament for Taylor’s late wife, is an incredibly moving ballad that transcends any barriers of language or culture.