Osibisa To Re-Launch Album

Fans of legendary Afro-rock band Osibisa will this year witness the re-launch of the group’s 1973 hit album ‘Happy Little Children’ with the hit song ‘Fire Will Burn You’ at the Alliance de Frances in East Legon in Accra.

Flying Elephant, a record label owned by Osibisa, is working with Scratch Studios, a music label based in Accra to launch the album.

Teddy Osei, the iconic saxophonist and leader of the Osibisa group is a patron of the Dream Child Foundation and a member of the board of directors of Scratch Studios. The collaboration of the two music outfits is expected to generate funds, out of which a huge percentage will be donated to the Dream Child Foundation to support the children.

The surviving members of Osibisa are expected to be in attendance.This re-launch will definitely resurrect the afro rock music which was made famous by this group.

Started in London in 1969, the original Osibisa set comprised Teddy Osei (from Ghana) – tenor sax, flute, percussion and vocals; Sol Amarfio (from Ghana) – drums; Mac Tontoh (from Ghana) – trumpet, flugel horn and Kabasa; Spartacus R (from Grenada) – bass guitar and assorted percussion, and Wendell Richardson (from Antigua).

Others were lead guitar and vocals Robert Bailey (from Trinidad) – organ, piano and timbales and Loughty Lasisi Amao (from Nigeria) – tenor sax, baritone sax and conga. Loughty died in 1988 in the United States after being shot by a neighbour during a quarrel.

The group delighted the world with its sizzling fusion rhythms and was at its peak in the 1970s. The founding members see themselves as the godfathers of world music.

Apart from the phenomenal Osibisa maiden album that came out in 1971, the band released several other great collections of songs including ‘Woyaya’, ‘Heads’, ‘Best of’, ‘Superfly TNT’, ‘Happy Children’, ‘Osibirock’, ‘Wecome Home’ and ‘Ojah Awake’.