Ebo Taylor - Yen Ara

First published in Songlines Magazine issue 137, May 2018.

Ebo Taylor
Yen Ara
Mr Bongo (41 mins)

Ebo Taylor has been doing his stuff for more than 60 years now, so he knows how to make an album to get you on your feet. With Yen Ara, he continues to bring a unique blend of highlife and Afrobeat, adding handfuls of disco, jazz and reggae into the mix too.

Taylor’s hand-picked Saltpond City Band are as tight as anything. It’s all about that rhythm section: guitar, keys, bass and konkoma-style percussion and drums intertwine, weaving a musical weave for the punchy horns and Taylor’s aged vocals to dance across.

There’s a real ‘rare groove’ sound to this album – it feels like it might have been dug out from a long-forgotten record crate in Accra. Thanks go in part to the sympathetic production of world music adventurer and Robert Plant guitarist Justin Adams, whose hand is often subtle but not afraid to add some spice when appropriate.

Yen Ara lacks some of the innovation that Taylor has been known to provide – the tracks on offer could equally have come from any of his latest few albums. But they were great albums. So don’t expect anything ground-breaking, but if you like Ebo Taylor, you’ll love Yen Ara.