Atakora Manu – Omintiminim / Afro Highlife Music Album | Authentic African Highlife Songs for Dance, Celebration & Cultural Events

Born in Toase, Ghana, a proud Asante, Atakoras musical talent made itself clear from an early age. But it wasn’t until his late teens that he put that talent to use as a performer, first founding the legendary Princess Trio from 1961 till 1963 with drummer Togas and multi-instrumentalist Elder Osei Bonsu.

A unique selling point here is the mix of vintage, rootsy ‘palmwine’ blues-style guitar Highlife with quirky keyboard electronics, a sound well-established today but revolutionary in the comparatively conservative world of 70s and 80s Highlife. This comes across beautifully in Dada and Cape Coast Cousin, the latter toasting off guitar licks with bubbling wah wah organ.

Atakora doesn’t forget the essential role of brass and woodwind in quality Highlife, as can be heard in Super Otete Impomamu, with its twin-sax punctuating riffs, and in the ‘mambo’ sections of the dancefloor killer Osebo Anyami Ankyemi. Atakora Manu passed away in 2015 but left an abundance of beautiful music. This double-album reissue is a long-overdue tip of the hat to one of Highlife’s more underrated stars-universally respected by fellow musicians but still to be properly rediscovered by a new generation of Highlife fans.

Tracklist

A1        Dada
A2        Ohia Ma Adwendwen
B1        Cape Coast Cousin
B2        Asante Kotoko
C1        Super Otete Impomamu
C2        Osebo Anyami Ankyemi
D1        Bebo Me Nkomo
D2        Meka A Ensa