Highlife Giants

Contents

Introduction

SECTION ONE: The Origins and Spread of Highlife

Chapter One: Black Soldiers, Seamen and the Coastal Elites:
Brass Bands, Guitar Bands and Ballroom Dance Orchestras
Chapter Two: Highlife Dance Bands and the Early
Independence Era

SECTION TWO: Highlife Pioneers in Ghana and Nigeria

Chapter Three: E.T. Mensah: Youthful Days and the Early
Tempos
Chapter Four: Louis Armstrong and the Later Tempos
Chapter Five: Some Tempos Graduates
Chapter Six: Guy Warren/Kofi Ghanaba: The Accra Orchestra
and the Tempos
Chapter Seven: The Tempos’ Travels in West Africa
Chapter Eight: Bobby Benson and the Jam Session Orchestra of
Lagos

SECTION THREE: Highlife’s Golden Age: Nigeria,
Ghana and Benin

Chapter Nine: Veterans From Bobby Benson’s Band
Chapter Ten: Victor Olaiya and Chris Ajilo
Chapter Eleven: Victor Uwaifo: The Nigerian Bini Highlife
Maestro
Chapter Twelve: Orlando Julius: From Highlife to Afro-Fusion
Chapter Thirteen: Ignace De Souza of Benin
Chapter Fourteen: King Bruce and The Black Beats
Chapter Fifteen: Saka Acquaye: The Ghanaian Musician and
Artist
Chapter Sixteen: Jerry Hansen and the Ramblers International
Band
Chapter Seventeen: Broadway, Uhuru and Ebo Taylor
Chapter Eighteen: The Ghanaian Highlife Composer
Oscarmore Ofori

SECTION FOUR: The Highlife of Eastern Nigeria

Chapter Nineteen: Eastern Nigerian Highlife Artists
Chapter Twenty: The Eastern Nigerian Highlife ‘Explosion’ of
the 1970s

CODA: The Highlife Revival

Chapter Twenty-One: The Current Highlife Revival in Nigeria,
Ghana and Abroad

PHOTO CREDITS
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX