Label: Golden Stool Records
Release date: 2009
Production: Kwame Yeboah
Genre: Progressive Rock / Jazz Rock Fusion / World Music
Album length: 60.51 min
Rating: 9.0/10
Osibisa, the legendary Ghanaian champions of afrobeat jazz rock fusion, are back after a long studio absence with a great new album, which in English translates to “Fourth Generation”. Multi-instrumentalist Teddy Osei, the band’s founder and longtime chieftain, didn’t pick the title by chance: he’s surrounded himself with a younger generation of musicians, most of whom are making their first appearance as members of this cult African musical attraction, which has been thrilling fans of jazz ethno fusion for more than forty years.
Alongside a few new names, longtime rhythm guitarist/vocalist Gregg Kofi Brown is back too, having earned his bread in the band for 22 years now. Most of the solos were played by cult guitarist Alfred Kari Bannerman, also a longtime collaborator. “Osee Yee” is also the last album for original wind player Mac Tontoh, who sadly passed away in 2010.
Most of the album is built on lively, layered African-Caribbean rhythms, horns and equally layered ‘shamanic’ vocal harmonies, which create an unforgettable atmosphere, a real journey across the vast expanses of the savanna and through thick jungles. Tracks like the opening instrumental “Osuno”, “Watusi” and “Ayioko” are a wonderful blend of traditional African music, funk and jazz fusion.
Fans of pop rock classics will get the most out of the funk-grooved “Lifetime” and the excellent cover of an evergreen standard by the ‘quiet’ Beatle George Harrison, “My Sweet Lord”. The title track deserves a special mention too, with woodwinds and brass like the flute and trumpet getting a really distinctive voice. Someone labeled Osibisa’s style ‘happy music’ many years ago, and that’s not far from the truth, because on “Osee Yee” they prove that their music still has that playful, positive, almost festive atmosphere running through it all the time.
Across the whole album, Osibisa convincingly and with a modern approach carry on in the direction that brought them cult status and, in the mid-seventies, made it possible to popularize traditional African-Caribbean music in the West. Apart from the modern production, anyone who hasn’t followed the band since the early seventies could easily think this is actually a forgotten album from that era. And that’s exactly what most devoted fans wanted most: classic Osibisa, but in a refreshing, contemporary way.
Bands with a 40-plus-year career that can still surprise you with an album on par with their best work could be counted on the fingers of both hands. With “Osee Yee”, which can rightfully be declared their best effort since “Heads” (1972), Osibisa have proven beyond doubt that they belong among them. And that’s despite the sad fact that many of those who followed the triumphant march of the jazz fusion and prog rock scene in the early seventies don’t even know they’re still active.
Author: Peter “Dr. ProgRock” Podbrežnik
Track list:
1. Osuno (1:26)
2. Watusi (6:03)
3. Ayioko(3:50)
4. Life Time (6:45)
5. Osee Yee (4:32)
6. Yen Ara Ghana (4:07)
7. Higher And Higher (5:04)
8. It’s Okay (4:41)
9. My Sweet Lord (4:36)
10. Boyengya (4:00)
11. One Life (4:56)
12. Mystical (4:49)
13. Too Much Going On (3:55)
14. Saworowa (2:49)
Line-up:
Teddy Osei – saxophone, flute, African drums, vocals
Mac Tontoh – horn
Colin Graham – trumpet
Alfred Kari Bannerman – guitar
Emmanuel Rentzos – organ, vocals
Kwame Yeboah – acoustic guitar, keyboards, drums, vocals
Gregg Kofi Brown – vocals
Kofi Ayivor – congas
Alex Kwaku-Boateng (KB) – drums
Jose Joyette – drums
Emmanuel Afram – bass guitar
Nana Yaa – vocals
Idris Rokhman – tenor saxophone
