Palaver

"One of the most satisfying rediscoveries of the crate-digging phenomenon of recent years has been Ebo Taylor, the veteran Ghanaian purveyor of highlife, Afrobeat and pan-WestAfrican jazz-funk. Not only has most of his classic catalogue from the 70s and 80s been reissued, but the revival of interest in his work has led to new recordings. And at 83, he's still going strong. Yet there's always one that got away, and Palaver is it. A long-lost, previously unreleased album, it was recorded in Nigeria in 1980 for the Tabansi label, on whose dusty shelves the tapes sat forgotten and unloved for almost 40 years. It's quite a find, too, ranging from the trad highlife of the title-track to the simmering Afrobeat brilliance of 'Help Africa' with some show-stopping Afro-blues sax blowing from George Abunuah. Apparently Taylor hates being called 'the Fela Kuti of Ghana' but you can hear why he earned the name".

"In 1980, Taylor was on tour in Nigeria when he recorded an album, which then was shelved for reasons that still remain unknown. The lost tapes, though, have resurfaced, and the resulting album, Palaver (...), reveals a veteran at the high point of his career. Taylor's intricate guitar work is complemented by his world-class rhythm section, spinning tight grooves under an airtight horn section".