John Collins 
Highlife Giants 
West African Dance Band Pioneers

‘Highlife Giants is an intimate portrait of the pioneering artistes of West Africa’s vibrant music scene from the 1920s onwards. It is packed full of inside information from stars including E.T Mensah, Kofo Ghanaba, King Bruce, Bobby Benson, Victor Uwaifo, and Ignace De Souza.

Blending European and African-American styles with traditional African patterns, highlife music contributed to the development of post-independent national identity in Ghana, Nigeria and along the West African coast. Highlife Giants is an important and indispensable record on this Pan-African musical identity.’

Over de auteur

Professor John Collins is a naturalized Ghanaian of British descent who came to Ghana in 1952. He is a guitarist, harmonica player and percussionist and has worked and recorded with numerous Ghanaian & Nigerian bands. In the 1970s he had his own Bokoor Band and since 1982 has been running Bokoor Recording Studio near Accra. Collins has also written numerous publications on West African popular and neo-traditional music. Collins is a Professor at the Music Department of the University of Ghana in Legon. He is a patron of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and is Chair of Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation (BAPMAF).