He’s a young man who has proved over the last few years that he is worthy of attention and trumpet/flugelhorn player, Peter Somuah, affirms his maturity with the release of a new album dedicated to Highlife.
The 10-track collection, aptly titled ‘Highlife’, communicates a good feeling about the rhythmic Ghanaian style of music he has always cherished and how one can ride on it to convey worthwhile messages to his people and the wider world.
From the very opening notes, it is clear Somuah’s compositional approach is to express flexibility in terms of tempo and melody and messages to ginger up his people.
Recorded in Germany and Ghana, the album features prominent acts like Agya Koo Nimo, Gyedu Blay Ambolley, Pat Thomas and Lamisi Akuka. They differ in their deliveries but all contribute equally to creating an uplifting atmosphere of Ghana-inspired music.
‘Chop Chop’, for instance, features Ambolley and reflects the sound of some of the early Highlife big bands as various horn instruments exchange some fluent lines. Ambolley had a free hand to work out the lyrics and he dwells on corruption in his typical good-humoured manner.
‘Mental Slavery’ has Somuah himself on vocals. The song is advice to our people to shake off their inferiority complex and stand up for the greatness they possess. Pat Thomas, in his unmistakably delightful voice on ‘We Give Thanks’, emphasizes the importance of gratitude in our lives.
“The whole approach is not to show myself off as a superb songwriter, composer or arranger. I just want to emphasize that we have this wonderful genre of music called Highlife which we should be proud of and constantly explore to our benefit,” Somuah says.
Before settling in the Netherlands, Somuah played with some bands in Ghana including Deep Waves and Big Dreams. He was also part of the PL Crew which backed several of the nation’s best-known gospel acts.
Somuah and his five-piece Dutch band are widely travelled. They have performed in places such as Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain, Morocco, Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo. He describes the members as a cohesive outfit that understands each other all the time.
The man already has two albums under his belt: ‘Outer Space’ released in 2022 and ‘Letter to the Universe’ which came out in 2023.
The ‘Highlife’ album is on the Germany-based ACT Music label and will be available from all major digital music distributing platforms from November 1, 2024.
