OSIBISA

Although OSIBISA is primarily a band from the African nation of Ghana, it didn't form there. Four members from Ghana met three others from Caribbean nations in London in 1969 and so began their unique and catchy brand of Afro-funk jazz fusion. Their music is an eclectic fusion of various types of African and Caribbean music with particular emphasis on the local African form of Highlife but they also include a healthy dose of jazz, rock, Latin and R&B. I share the overwhelming opinion that OSIBISA is indeed the African version of Santana. There are a few tracks that could easily be slipped onto an early Santana album and no one would notice. The result of all this fusion is a vibrant, energetic and melodic percussion dominated big sound that I find quite uplifting.

The band put out the rumors that their name means "criss cross rhythms that explode with happiness." What a great advertising method it was however the name is actually derived from "osibisaba" which means nothing more than "highlife" in Fante which is an indigenous language of Ghana. OSIBISA actually enjoyed mild success in the US with both their first two albums scoring mild success on the Billboard Top 200 possibly helped by the fact that a prolific Roger Dean contributed his artistic talents to the album covers. OSIBISA also was one of the first bands to popularize the term "world music" and influenced a gazillion others to follow their multi-cultural cross pollination. A very pleasant debut album where you can expect a big full sound delivering happy and upbeat harmonies and rhythms very much in the style of early Santana.