African Dawn: Osibisa
VICTORIA KINGHAM and EBI SOSSEH
Music fans of a certain age will vividly remember the Osibisa album cover with the pink flying elephants. Listening to that music now (for the first time since more years than I care to remember), it is astonishing how utterly familiar, not to say, iconic, it sounds. Yet I don’t think we even had a word for Afro-Rock in those days. Their music has been described, by Jazzwise, as “a danceable blend of latin, rock and jazz sounds over energetic African highlife rhythms.” Produced by Tony Visconti, Osibisa was released in 1971 in the early days of prominent company MCA records. The company subsequently acquired a crowd of the most globally famous rock, r&b, and soul artists: looking randomly at their list I can see Elton John, The Jets, Femi Kuti, BB King, Danni Minogue, Meat Loaf, Pretty Boy Floyd, Martha Reeves.
Osibisa brass section
So it was fascinating to talk to Wendell Richardson, lead guitar and vocals, and one of two surviving founder members of the band which, after 50 years, continues apace. He will bring an 8 or 9-piece band down here from London as the Jazz Festival main attraction on 4 October, and will undoubtedly fill the Henry Ward Hall in Robertson Street. “That music though, was very early. We didn’t really break through yet, you know. People got attracted to the album cover before they knew what was on the album!”
Dell is joined by engineer and producer, Robert Corich, who tells me that the first two album covers were designed by Roger Dean, who went on to design a number of wondrous and collectable geographical fantasy covers, including the delicate spiked globe on Fragile by Yes. But that’s by the by. Osibisa’s music was infectious and new, and contained elements that the British rock audience were unfamiliar with. We wondered about the (then) unusual fusion of Ghanaian and Caribbean styles – “and one Nigerian” adds Richardson, who is himself from Antigua.
THE DAWN
“I was living in London, in Finsbury Park. And I had a mate called Remi Kabaka, who used to play in Ginger Baker’s Air Force. And he said, there’s some guys trying to put a band together round the corner. And I said, not round my corner! In this area, I thought I would know about all musicians.
“But we went to the house and I was introduced to Teddy [Osei, Ghanaian founder and leader who died early this year, at almost 90] and Peggy Salako. And Teddy was – unshaven! I thought, these guys aren’t going to have their posters on a 16-year-old’s wall. But they were testing me to see how I understand the rhythms. I knew what they were saying even though I didn’t understand Ghanaian, it was like, do you think he could play the rhythm without us playing the rhythm?”
He of course easily mastered the lovely “criss-cross-rhythms that explode with happiness” and Osibisa’s now legendary gigs almost always start with The Dawn. “It was so interesting – you could never leave a group like that, because there was no other group like that!” The visiting band will probably start with The Dawn too. Given that Dell will be the only original member of the band who comes here (there is one other, Robert Bailey), we wondered how the new band members learn the music. “Well, because the band is quite popular, they know our tunes and can work on the music by themselves. In Ghana (in the famous 233 club), they wanted me to play a solo! And all the musicians knew all the songs of Osibisa, so I hardly had to rehearse them! Everybody knows the music.”
CONTINUITY
It’s true. That music is part of our cultural heritage here in the UK and probably everywhere in the world. Corich adds: “Some of them have been in the band for 25 years. They aren’t all from Ghana. One of the trumpeters also plays in U2. The drummer they have now, Mel [Gaynor], played in Simple Minds. So it’s an ever-revolving door. Wendell adds: “Yes, he’s brought back the rock into the Afro!”
Richardson left Osibisa for a while and joined Free (as a replacement for short-lived, tragic Paul Kossoff) going on tour with Free and Traffic. He returned for Osibisa’s Welcome Home album. “Free were very young, and they liked to do silly things – you know, like throw somebody out of a window, knowing there was a pool downstairs,” he tells us.
After that, Dell “went off to do more adventures”, adds Corich, “and Kari Bannerman was brought in.” The band got going again in 1994. Corich has been working with Richardson on a solo album for some years, but also has some material for another album, which has not yet been released. The one they are working on features John Giblin (who was bass player for Simple Minds, but also for Phil Collins, Peter Gabriel, and Kate Bush), and also a couple of people from Earth, Wind, and Fire.
THE BEAT GOES ON
Richardson is himself an icon, but endearingly human all the same. “My family’s in the Caribbean. So I get the chance to go out and see them. They have parties on the beach for me. You run on the beach and chase them (his great grandchildren) round and round a tree. It’s a way to get rid of all that food you eat! I like to cook for them. Sometimes I like to do chicken – there’s a lady who has all the chickens, but they’re not cooped up, you have to go and get one and leave it overnight. And I cook breakfast for them, with all those wonderful things they have for breakfast.”
Osibisa are a piece of history – the internet is adorned with references to their musical life. There was a particularly comprehensive article printed in the rock magazine Prog just before the pandemic, with wonderful photographs. They are known for their insistent cross-rhythms, their infectious good humour, their consistency and longevity, oh, and the pink flying elephants.
WHAT TO DO NOW
Osibisa will play at Henry Ward Hall, Robertson Street, on 4 October, at 9pm. They are brought to you by Mike’s List and the new Hastings Jazz Festival, supported by venues Barnaby’s Lounge, HTH Church, and Henry Ward Hall. Sponsors are Clone, Brewing Brothers, H:, Swim Enterprises, and NS Technologies. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Tickets and details at mikeslist.uk/product/hastings-jazz-festival. Worth every penny!
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