Ambrose Campbell

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Ambrose Campbell (born August 19, 1919 in Lagos as Oladipupo Adekoya Campbell , † June 22, 2006 in Plymouth ) was a British musician (guitar, percussion, vocals, bandleader) of Nigerian origin, who has emerged primarily in world music and pop music . He led the first “black” band in Great Britain and influenced numerous musicians on the British jazz scene with his West African music.

Live and act

Campbell, son of a priest, first sang in the church choir before living with Herbert Macaulay as a teenager . During this time he played Palmwine Music with friends and then became a printer before hiring a seaman. After several trips, he lived in London, where in 1946 he and Brewster Hughes formed the band West African Rhythm Brothers , which accompanied Les Ballets Nègre , the first African ballet to tour the UK. The band was very successful in the early 1950s, presented Highlife in London and influenced musicians such as Ronnie Scott , Tubby Hayes , Kenny Graham and Phil Seamen , who later passed the learned rhythms on to drummers of the next jazz and pop generation such as John Stevens or Ginger Baker passed on. In the mid-1950s, he expanded the Rhythm Brothers to include wind instruments such as Zeal Onyia and Harry Beckett and also switched to piano. The band also acted as West African swing stars . Colin MacInnes memorialized him in his novel City of Spades (1957). In 1957 he went on tour with his band to Nigeria. In the 1960s he also went on tour to Italy. After he had already recorded some singles for Melodisc in the 1950s , his multicultural album Highlife Today did not follow until 1968. In 1972 he moved to the United States, where he worked as a percussionist with Leon Russell , played on his records and with him worldwide Toured. He was involved in the Grammy success One for the Road (1979) with Russell and Willie Nelson and has also worked as a studio musician in Nashville since 1982 . He also recorded his own music. In 2004 he returned to England, where he made more recordings.

Discographic notes

  • Highlife Today ( Columbia Records , 1968)
  • African Beat (1966?)
  • London Is the Place for Me (2006)

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to other sources, the band was founded by Campbell in Nigeria, cf. G. Ewen's Africa O-Ye! A Celebration of African Music , London 1991, p. 95
  2. ^ Stearns Guide to Contemporary African Music , London 1989, p. 21
  3. ^ Stearns Guide to Contemporary African Music , London 1989, p. 55
personal data
SURNAME Campbell, Ambrose
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Campbell, Oladipupo Adekoya (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British musician
DATE OF BIRTH August 19, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Lagos
DATE OF DEATH June 22, 2006
Place of death Plymouth