Opambuo International Band of Ghana - Seme ye wo bone'a

Opambuo International Band of Ghana..."The man with the golden voice" as he chooses to call himself, is one of the many bands that left Ghana for Nigeria in search of greener pastures. He is a native of the historical town of Feyiase, located in Kumasi, lake-road towards the largest man-made lake in the country.
In many of his songs, he mentions Festac hotel in Onitsha, probably his home base since most of the bands at that time had a hotel of affiliation where they entertain guests. He returned from Nigeria and passed on after an illness. His music is popular mostly at funerals in Ghana, with the "Ama Ghana" song being a must-play at such events.
What makes this one of my favorite bands is how versatile this band is. They hardly repeat the same pattern of play for different songs, each new song has its own rhythm. They also have the ability to infuse whichever highlife pattern at their location into their version of highlife. Most of their songs recorded in Nigeria has some Nigerian rhythm styles blended into their Ghanaian style. Other bands like Okukuseku and Canadoes all from Ghana also infused Nigerian styles when they relocated so I guess its more of a survival mode to please your audience according to wherever you find yourself. These mixed styles were a success in their home country of Ghana as well, not just in Nigeria.
Leo Nana Agyemang Opambuo, the leader was a very gifted guitarist and it always makes a difference when the leader/composer is an instrumentalist as compared to just being a singer or fronting for the band.
His trademark style is usually allowing a break in between his songs, where they just let the instruments play without singing, showing off his rhythm.
This album, Odo Yewu Special, is different from his other album by a similar name Odo Yewu and was recorded in Ivory Coast, a french country which borders to the west of Ghana. The french are excellent on guitar and have their unique rhythms similar to F. kenya's style and if you listen carefully to the distinct rhythm guitar in the background of the song, you will feel the Francophone in it. Enjoy!