Ebo Taylor

Ebo Taylor
Ebo Taylor
	Taylor in 2013
Ne ho asɛm
Awo din	Deroy Taylor
Awo bere	6 January 1936; Cape Coast, Gold Coast
Origin	Accra, Ghana
Died	7 February 2026 (aged 90); Saltpond, Ghana
Genres	Highlife; afrobeat; jazz;
Occupation(s)	Guitarist; singer; composer; bandleader; record producer;
Years active	Late 1950s–2026
Labels	Essiebons; Gapophone; Philips-West African-Records; Strut Records;

Wɔatwerɛ nsɛm wei ɛwɔ Asante kasa mu

Ebo Taylor (wɔwoo Deroy Taylor; Ɔbɛnem 6, 1936 – Ɔpɛpɔn 7, 2026)^[2] yɛ Ghana sankubɔfoɔ, nnwom hyehyɛeɛfoɔ, nnwontofoɔ kuo kannifoɔ, nnwomtwani ne obi a ɔde n’adwene si highlife ne afrobeat nnwom so.

Abrabɔ ne Adwuma

Wɔwoo Deroy Taylor wɔ Cape Coast, wɔ beaeɛ a saa beerɛ no na wharf no Gold Coast wɔ Ɔbɛnem 6 1936^[3], ɔhyɛ aseɛ bɔɔ piano berɛ a na wadi mfe nsia.^[4]

Taylor yɛ obi a wayɛ adwuma titiri wɔ Ghana nnwom mu bɛboro mfeɛ aduosia. Wɔ afe 1950 no awieeɛ mu hɔ no, na ɔdi akotene wɔ nnwontofoɔ kuo a wɔfrɛ wɔn Stargazers ne Broadway Dance Band mu. Wɔ afe 1962 mu no, Taylor de ne kuo, Black Star Highlife Band, kɔɔ London baabi a ɔne Nigeriani afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti ne Afrikafoɔ nnwontofoɔ afoforɔ ka bom yɛɛ baako.^[5]

Berɛ a ɔsan kɔɔ Ghana no, Taylor yɛɛ adwuma sɛ nnwontwani (producer) de maa nnwontofoɔ bi te sɛ Pat Thomas ne C. K. Mann —na ɔsane nso de nnoɔma a ɛfa Ghana amammerɛ ho me afrobeat, jazz, ne funk nnwom boom de yɛɛ ɔno ankasa ne nnwom wɔ afe1970 mu. Na ɔbɔ guitar sane twa nnwom ma Essiebons a Dick Essilfie Bondzie na ɔda ano.

Wɔ afe 1992 mu no, Ghetto Concept de ne afrobeats kaa wɔn nnwom ho.

Taylor adwuma nnwom no bɛgyee din yie wɔ amanaman nyinaa mu wɔ mfe ɔha a ɛtɔ so aduonu baako (21 century) mu. Wɔ mfe mpem mmienu ne nwɔtwe (2008) mu no, Taylor hyiaa Afrobeat Academy nnwontokuo no nnwontofoɔ a wɔwɔ Berlin, a saxophon sankubɔfoɔ Ben Abarbanel-Wolff ka ho, a ɛmaa woyii album Love and Death a ɔne Strut Records (ne album a edi kan a wɔkyekyɛe wɔ aman horow so) adi wɔ mfe mpem mmienu ne du (2010) mu. Afe korɔ no ara mu no, Usher de nhwɛsode bi a ɛfiri Taylor dwom "Heaven" mu dii dwuma maa "She Don't Know" ne Ludacris. Nnwontofoɔ bi te sɛ Black Eyed Peas, Kelly Rowland, Jidenna, Vic Mensa ne Rapsody ka ho bi na wɔyii ne nnwom no bi.

Owuo

Taylor wuu wɔ Ɔpɛpɔn 7, 2026, wɔ Saltpond, kuro bi a ɛwɔ Ghana mpoano. Nnanmusini bi a wɔfiri Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), a wɔn titrani, Bessa Simons, di wɔn anim, kɔsraa n’abusua wɔ Saltpond.

Abɔsobɔdeɛ ne akyɛdeɛ

Life Time Achievement Award – 2014 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards
Lifetime Achievement Award – 2019 Highlife Music Awards
Music Legend of the year – 2019 Ghana Business Awards

Album

My Love and Music (LP) (Gapophone Records), 1976
Ebo Taylor (Essiebons), 1977
Twer Nyame (Philips-West African-Records), 1978
Me Kra Tsie - Ebo Taylor & Saltpond Barkers Choir (LP) (Essiebons), 1979
Conflict - Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu (Essiebons), 1980^[6]
Calypso "Mahuno" and High Lifes Celebration - Pat Thomas & Ebo Taylor (Pan African Records), 1980
Hitsville Re-Visited - Ebo Taylor, Pat Thomas & Uhuru Yenzu (LP) (Essiebons), 1982
Abenkwan Puchaa (Essiebons), 2009
Love and Death (Strut Records), 2010
Life Stories: Best of Ebo Taylor 1973–80 (Strut Records), 2012
Appia Kwa Bridge (Strut Records), 2012
Yen Ara (Mr. Bongo), 2018
Palaver (Tabansi/BBE Music), 2019 (rec. 1980)
Ebo Taylor JID022 (Jazz Is Dead), 2025

Beaeɛ a menyaa mmoa firiiɛ

↑ Amigone, Marc, "Love and Death, the New Album from Ghanaian Legend Ebo Taylor", Huffington Post. 25 March 2016
↑ "The Performative Rhythm : From Highlife to Afrobeat", Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, pp. 69–82, 2022, doi:10.5040/9781501374746.ch-4, retrieved 2026-05-22
↑ Juan F. Saldarriaga, Rowan Haigh (2026-04-01), "OBITUARY: Frank John Rupert "Max" Taylor (July 17, 1939–February 18, 2026)", Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, vol. 73, no. 3, doi:10.1111/jeu.70079, ISSN 1066-5234, retrieved 2026-05-22
↑ Eric Doe (2026-03-05), Ebo Taylor took highlife to the world and changed Ghanaian music forever, retrieved 2026-05-22
↑ Alexander Stewart (2013), "Make It Funky: Fela Kuti, James Brown and the Invention of Afrobeat", American Studies, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 99–118, doi:10.1353/ams.2013.0124, ISSN 2153-6856, retrieved 2026-05-22
↑ Dineen, Donal, "Sunken Treasure: Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu", Irish Times. 25 March 2016.

[Marc-1] Amigone, Marc, "Love and Death, the New Album from Ghanaian Legend Ebo Taylor", Huffington Post. 25 March 2016

[2] "The Performative Rhythm : From Highlife to Afrobeat", Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, pp. 69–82, 2022, doi:10.5040/9781501374746.ch-4, retrieved 2026-05-22

[3] Juan F. Saldarriaga, Rowan Haigh (2026-04-01), "OBITUARY: Frank John Rupert "Max" Taylor (July 17, 1939–February 18, 2026)", Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology, vol. 73, no. 3, doi:10.1111/jeu.70079, ISSN 1066-5234, retrieved 2026-05-22

[4] Eric Doe (2026-03-05), Ebo Taylor took highlife to the world and changed Ghanaian music forever, retrieved 2026-05-22

[5] Alexander Stewart (2013), "Make It Funky: Fela Kuti, James Brown and the Invention of Afrobeat", American Studies, vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 99–118, doi:10.1353/ams.2013.0124, ISSN 2153-6856, retrieved 2026-05-22

[6] Dineen, Donal, "Sunken Treasure: Ebo Taylor & Uhuru Yenzu", Irish Times. 25 March 2016.

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