Early Guitar Music

Heritage’s reissues of African 78s in the early 1990s, compiled and annotated by Paul Vernon, remain some of the very few releases available of early commercial recordings from that continent. With a handful of very honourable exceptions (Rounder, Wergo, Yazoo), few other record companies have taken much interest in exploring this territory. The previous Heritage volumes were all dedicated to a single artist or group - like Domingo Justus or the Kumasi Trio - which might have limited their appeal. This new addition to the series, featuring a number of different individuals or combinations, might therefore find more of an audience. It certainly deserves to.

Most of these artists appear to be Ghanaian - evidence of provenance is fairly scanty - and if it’s a long way from here to Ghana Soundz (see review elsewhere on this site) the fact is that the road starts here, at least as far as commercial recordings are concerned. Just as the Afro-funk and Afro-beat pioneers were to do 40-50 years later, these musicians were fusing local rhythms and melodies with outside influences. Nicholas De Heer, for example, snaps his bass strings and rolls through a raggy chord sequence that sounds almost like something from a pre-war Piedmont blues record. Aingo and Acquaah’s “Bira David Dzi Hin”, is a lovely example of the palm wine style, one of the earliest syncretic idioms to find its way on to record. Apart from African music fans, it should reward attention from anyone interested in acoustic guitar styles - here they can be heard solo, duet, or with other instruments. With plenty to enjoy, and pretty well unique historical insights to be gleaned, all the way through, this has to be recommended without reservation to anybody with an interest in how West African music developed, and the roots of those styles that were to appear on the kinds of records that are illustrated around this website.

R.T.
(07/03)


Early Guitar Music From West Africa (1927-1929) - Heritage HT CD 33 Heritage’s reissues of African 78s in the early 1990s, compiled and annotated by Paul Vernon, remain some of the very few releases available of early commercial recordings from that continent. With a handful of very honourable exceptions (Rounder, Wergo, Yazoo), few other record companies have taken much interest in exploring this territory. The previous Heritage volumes were all dedicated to a single artist or group - like Domingo Justus or the Kumasi Trio - which might have limited their appeal. This new addition to the series, featuring a number of different individuals or combinations, might therefore find more of an audience. It certainly deserves to. Most of these artists appear to be Ghanaian - evidence of provenance is fairly scanty - and if it’s a long way from here to Ghana Soundz (see review elsewhere on this site) the fact is that the road starts here, at least as far as commercial recordings are concerned. Just as the Afro-funk and Afro-beat pioneers were to do 40-50 years later, these musicians were fusing local rhythms and melodies with outside influences. Nicholas De Heer, for example, snaps his bass strings and rolls through a raggy chord sequence that sounds almost like something from a pre-war Piedmont blues record. Aingo and Acquaah’s “Bira David Dzi Hin”, is a lovely example of the palm wine style, one of the earliest syncretic idioms to find its way on to record. Apart from African music fans, it should reward attention from anyone interested in acoustic guitar styles - here they can be heard solo, duet, or with other instruments. With plenty to enjoy, and pretty well unique historical insights to be gleaned, all the way through, this has to be recommended without reservation to anybody with an interest in how West African music developed, and the roots of those styles that were to appear on the kinds of records that are illustrated around this website. R.T. (07/03)

	Various Artists Early Guitar Music From West Africa 1927-1929 Heritage HT CD 33


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