Sounds of High Life - Josh Vadiveloo Quintet

• Josh Vadiveloo bass
• Charlie Humphrey-Lewis trumpet
• David Bustos tenor sax
• Julien Durand guitar
• Kai Chareunsy drums

Sounds of High Life explores the sounds of West Africa by reinterpreting songs by High Life musicians such as Ambrose Campbell, E.T. Mensah, and Victor Olaiya. 

Highlife is a music genre that started in present day Ghana in the 19th Century, during its history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. Its mix of African polyrhythms with melodies of western jazz, created a feel-good music that influenced the afrobeat and afrobeats that we hear today. The Josh Vadiveloo Quintet takes inspiration from Ghanaian Highlife compositions, playing their own modern arrangements of the tunes with a focus on improvisation.

Commissioned by The Ifa Yoruba Contemporary Arts Trust.