Osibisa - Ayiko Bia (1991)

During my recent holydays in Paris, I've found this somewhat obscure Osibisa live cd, not included in their official discography. Searching for some infos about it in the Internet, I discovered that it was released in Europe in 1991. Judging from the sound quality of the recordings (good but not great), they probably document a live show from the '70s. Since this was Osibisa's "golden" period, this album is really worth a listen, including very good renditions of such classic tracks as "Welcome Home", "Music from Gong Gong" and their biggest UK hit, "Sunshine Day".

«Osibisa was formed in London, England in 1969 by a multi-racial group of musicians; all with the same interests in music. The nucleus of the band was from Ghana, others, like the unbelievable guitarist Wendell Richardson, came from Antigua; the bass player who was simply known as Spartacus (I'm Spartacus!) was from Grenada; the keyboard player from Trinidad; and the saxophonist was from Nigeria. However, what they all had in common was great musical rhythm, enthusiasm, and ability. Their music was borrowed from Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, African based drum music, Rock, Pop, and Latin Groove, to create quite an original sound. In Ghanaian 'Osibisa' means 'criss-cross rhythms that explode with happiness'. Now, how one word can say all that I do not know, but that is exactly how the music sounds, and they are the very words that introduce the first song on Osibisa's first album, aptly titled "Dawn".
Like a breath of fresh air, Osibisa's music first came to prominence with the release of their first single "Music for Gong Gong'', which was released at the tail end of 1970. It is a piece of music that will get even the most conservative of souls out boogieing on the dance floor. So it was great expectations when their first album was released in the early days of 1971 and the boys did not disappoint, arriving as it did when Prog-Rock was in its heyday. Each of these percussive driven songs blew away all the pretensions of those serious minded twiddlers in the likes of Yes, King Crimson, etc. Osibisa's unbridled enthusiasm was so infectious, you could not help but be dragged along by the sheer exuberance of it all. Although Osibisa's main strength was in their live concerts, they could also drum up a storm (quite literally) in the studio. Nobody at the time could have realized how influential their music was going to be in years ahead. Osibisa today is still known as the Godfather of 'World Music', and the effect of their big hit single "Sunshine Day" (1975) was to change the disco scene for ever.» (Kim Fletcher, Amazon)

Official site: http://www.osibisa.co.uk/osibisa.html

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