It's pretty much the dream: Peter Adarkwah of BBE Music was signing off on a multi-album reissue deal with the Nigerian label Tabansi Records, which was started by Chief Tabansi in the early '70s and had a back catalog of great Afro-funk, Igbo soukous, and early African reggae that had fallen out of print. As they were ironing out the details, Tabansi's son Joe, who was warden of the catalog, asked Adarkwah if he was interested in any unreleased material—like these Ebo Taylor master tapes for example. The dream.
In 1980, Ghanaian funk highlife king Ebo Taylor was on tour in Nigeria when he ran into the elder Tabansi and they agreed to record and release a single album. Taylor's touring band, which included some of his most-revered collaborators like George Amissah, Mat Hammond, George Kennedy and George Abunuah, signed a deal, recorded the session and continued on their Nigerian tour. The tapes, “for reasons that no one (including Ebo) can now fully recall,” were set on a shelf to collect dust for 40 years...until now.
BBE is releasing Ebo Taylor's Palaver on Sept. 13. We're so stoked to premiere this little preview from one our favorite artists operating at the peak of his powers.
