The African Showboyz Out With Spiritual

Have you ever been exposed to music that takes you on a ?mute? journey through the arid districts and villages of the Upper East region?

If no, the African Showboyz, a group of five brothers are ready to expose you to rich arid rhythms of Northern Ghana that reminds us of an immense reservoir of primitive rhythms and beats available for use by Ghanaian musicians.

The fifteen track CD titled Spiritual Song is characteristed by ?Bunburus? ? a kind of rhythm created by these young musicians by successfully blending traditional instruments like ?durum,? ?Kone?, ?sisans?, ?bin bill? and ?gonge? ? instruments that were originally played separately by their ancestors and forebears.

Spiritual song is part of an approach to musical authencity that involves the subtle use of ancestral rhythms, beats, sounds and songs of the Upper East Region to create optimistic, beautiful and refreshing music for Africans and music lovers all over the world.

Sutani Panga (Track One) with its scintillating beats from Northern percussion instruments comments on the expulsion of Lucifer from Heaven after his unsuccessful rebellion against the Almighty God.

John Ndebugri (Track 4) is a tribute to the court room ?tiger? political activitist and a former PNDC activitist and a former PNDC Secretary for his immense contribution to the development of the Kussasis (a tribe in the Upper East region), is characteristised by subtle drumming alongside voices that seem to carry messages from the bottom of their hearts.

The title track Spiritual Song, which calls for religious tolerance and respect for other religions, is dominated by maracas and bells while a strong voice delivers the lyrics in a near-griot fashion.

Formed several years ago, the African Showboyz have performed in numerous African countries including Togo, Benin, Cote D?Ivoire, Nigeria, Cameroon, Algeria, Chad and Libya where they enchanted audiences with dozens of performances.

In June 2002, the group undertook a performance tour of France where they participated in a grand cultural festival dubbed ?Printemps des Comediens? which was held in the French City of Montpelier.

In 2003, the African Showboyz performed in various cities and towns in the United States, Germany and Switzerland where they shared stages with many musicians like Alpha Blondy and Buju Banton.

Spiritual Song, which was recorded at the Pidgin Music Studios in Accra by Panji Anoff was mastered in France by Suzanne Durand with Thomas Dorn as the executive producer.