E. T. Mensah And His Tempo's Band - E. T. Mensah And His Tempo's Band mp3

Tracklist

Credits

• Alto Saxophone – Spike Anyanko, Spivak Dodoo
• Bass [String] – Robert Veale
• Bongos, Vocals – Dan Acquaye
• Congas – Herbert Thompson
• Drums, Vocals – Tom-Tom Addo
• Guitar – Dizzy Acquaye, Tricky Johnson
• Maracas – Gunga Din Edoh
• Trombone – Glen Cofie, Rich Kojo
• Trumpet, Tenor Saxophone – E. T. Mensah

Notes

Made in England

Emmanuel Tetteh Mensah was born at Accra, Gold Coast, in 1919, his early education took place at the Government School, Accra, and later at the Accra High School. At the age of twelve he learned to play flute in the Government School band, and the following year found him playing piccolo and flute in the Accra Orchestra whilst continuing his normal school studies. The leader of the Accra Orchestra at the time was Joe Lamptey, whose main interest lay in gathering talented youngsters together to form a band. E. T. Mensah continued to play with his orchestra and also learnt to play alto-saxophone. When his general education was completed, he went to a special school to study pharmacy, followed by a period of eight years in which he worked for the Government as a pharmacist. During this period he had little spare time for his music, but he did not entirely forsake his saxophone. His musical career got a chance when he opened his own drug store in Accra which gave him opportunity to finance his musical ventures.
The original Tempo's band was formed in 1946, as a jam session group, by some European soldiers stationed in Accra; it played for army dances and at the Accra Club. As various members left to go to other stations, African musicians were brought in to take their place, until finally it became an all African band. They played impromptu pieces for dances, and they shared the engagement fees as a co-operative unit. E. T. Mensah joined the band in 1947, which at this time was led by tenor-saxophonist Joe Kelly. Shortly after this the band split-up to be reformed again this time with E. T. Mensah leading the group. The various members played together for some fifteen months as a jam session group, all members being allowed free expression in their playing, and ad lib playing of solos. Once again the band split as various members left to form their own bands. In 1950 E. T. Mensah brought in further promising players and for the first time the band went under the name of E. T. Mensah and his Tempo's band.
During this period the band started to work to set arrangements and the solo spots were worked into the main arrangements still allowing the soloist a certain amount of free expression, thus maintaining the effect of impromptu solo playing. A rhythm section was trained to play the complex percussive harmonies of the Gold Coast highlife, and this was the start of the highlife vogue as it is known today in its modern form. The rhythm section followed that of the Latin American style, consisting of bongoes, maracas, claves, conga drum, guitar and string bass. This started a fashion that was soon adopted by other Gold Coast bands. At one time or another the band has numbered amongst its members such Gold Coast musical personalities as Joe Kelly (tenor-saxophone), Tom Grippman (trombone), Spike Anyanko (alto-saxophonist) and Guy Warren (drums).
As one of the first professional bands in the Gold Coast, it had the opportunity to embark on extensive tours of the country, visiting Kumasi, Tamale, Cape Coast as well as visiting neighbouring Dahomey, and Nigeria. Nigerians have had the chance of hearing the first band to play in the newly opened "Lido" night club in Accra, and has entertained dancers at "The Week-end in Havana", "Kit-Kat" and many other nightspots in the capital.
E. T. Mensah is now encouraging members of the band to compose new calypsos and sambas, to enlarge the band's repertoire and to make a variation from the highlife tempo.
Most of the titles featured on this long playing record are dressed up versions of African folk tunes, some are local compositions by members of the band, others are based on factual happenings following the traditional practice with calypsos. This record is representative of the band's activities over a period of three years. 1953 to 1955, and contains most the band's frequently requested titles.
This is not the sophisticated music of the modern dance hall, but playing which inspires an abandoned type of dance seen in the West African night clubs and bars. It may not have the polish or technique of the large-scale European and American bands, but it has the ingredients necessary to fill these West African nightspots with excited dancers, dancing as only African people can, dancing in sheer, abandonment to the rhythms of the highlife and the calypso.
In the three years that these recordings cover, the band line-up of musicians has changed from time to time but on these titles you can hear the playing of E. T. Mensah (trumpet and tenor-saxophone); Spike Anyanko, Spivak Dodoo (alto-saxophone); Glen Cofie, Rich Kojo (trombone); Tricky Johnson, Dizzy Acquaye (guitar); Robert Veale (string bass); Tom-Tom Addo (drums); Dan Acquaye (bongos); Gunga Din Edoh (maracas); Herbert Thompson (conga drum). On these recordings vocals are taken by various members of the band, prominent amongst these being Dan Acquaye and Tom-Tom Addo.

Companies

• Made By – The Decca Record Company Limited

Video

Album

Mensah joined the band in 1947. Shortly after this the band split up, to be reformed again with Mensah as its leader. The group gained international attention and in 1957 Mensah performed with Louis Armstrong. The highlife style of music started to decline in the 1960s, but E. Mensah remained active for years afterwards. He co-starred on a highly successful album with the Nigerian trumpeter Dr Victor Abimbola Olaiya. Mensah & The Tempos. King of Highlife Anthology, four-CD box 2015, RetroAfrica. Contributing artist. You Call Me Roko. Africa Forever. Чтобы добавлять треки в плейлисты, нужно авторизоваться. Создать плейлист. Mensah & His Tempo's Band: The Tree and the Monkey, You Call Me Roko. Mensah & His Tempos Band: Weeya Weeya, The Tree and the Monkey, Because of Money. Album: A Star Of Africa Lable: Decca Artist: E. Mensah Song: You Call Me Roko Many thanks to Julious Vogel for the loan of this wonderful in the days E. Mensah was the first Ghanaian highlife artist I heard. From the first notes I was convinced, this is wonderful music. Eversince I keep searching for his work and shortly got lucky. tracks 1 Donkey calypso 2 Tea samba 3 Shemi ni oya 4 Laura 5 Munsuro 6 Sunday mirror 7 St. Peters calypso 8 Obaayi fi kumasi 9 Nkebo baaya 10 Stormy ass. This entry was posted in Ghana, Highlife by Moos. Bookmark the permalink. 16 thoughts on E. Mensah and his Tempos Band -Decca Presents. Decca West A. Mensah And His Tempo's Band 릴리스에 대한 크레딧, 리뷰, 트랙을 보고 쇼핑해보세요. Emmanuel Tetteh Mensah was born at Accra, Gold Coast, in 1919, his early education took place at the Government School, Accra, and later at the Accra High School. At the age of twelve he learned to play flute in the Government School band, and the following year found him playing piccolo and flute in the Accra Orchestra whilst continuing his normal school studies. The leader of the Accra Orchestra at the time was Joe Lamptey, whose main interest lay in gathering talented youngsters together to form a band. Your feedback for E. Mensah And His Tempo's Band. Hi, we'd really appreciate your help If you enjoy our site, please consider supporting us by sparing a few seconds to disable your ad blocker. We work very hard to ensure our site is as fast and free as possible, and we respect your privacy. A lot of hard work happens in the background to keep BEA running, and it's especially difficult to do this when we can't pay our hosting fees . My Carts. Mensah & His Tempos Band. Album 1. Release Date. The Tree & The Monkey Original Mix. Honest Jons Records. Play jigsaw puzzles for free Home. Mensah and Tempo Band, 2018. Track 10, 05:35. Track 11, 04:42. Track 12, 06:26. Now playing