SANTROFI - Ghana Dances To A New Beat

Alewa’ (out 24 April 2020 on Outhere Records) is the debut album by young Accra-based Santrofi, an all-star band led by bass player Emmanuel Ofori, who rose from playing with Ebo Taylor, as well as Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band.

Taking vintage-inspired highlife from Ghana into the future and all across the world, they have already gone down a storm at last year’s summer festivals, like Roskilde (Denmark), FMM Sines (Portugal) and WOMAD (UK), with more touring planned for 2020, including:

Sunday, 21 June - Africa Oyé festival, Liverpool 

Monday, 22 June - Jazz Cafe, London

The band was founded by bassist and producer Emmanuel Ofori who rose from playing with the Highlife legends Ebo Taylor and Pat Thomas. Ofori has now moved on to form his own collective deeply rooted in vintage Ghanaian high- life music in all its forms: Santrofi. The band’s influences range from the smelting soulful highlife sound that can only be nurtured by Accra’s afternoon scorch to the riveting fast-paced pulse of 70s dance-guitar highlife, the other-worldly sound of Highlife funk or the polyrhythmic beats and melodies that took Afrobeat across the globe. They have learnt from the masters and are ready to take highlife to new levels.

The album’s title track is available now alongside a second single, “Kwaa Kwaa”.