Pat Thomas and his Kwashibu Area Band are the foremost living practitioners of the African genre highlife, the predecessor of afrobeat. Highlife originated in Ghana and it fuses traditional Kumasi Kwa music and Western influences. The unique result became very popular among fans of world music in the 1970s. Together with Ebo Taylor, among others, Pat Thomas enjoyed huge success. Thomas’s lyrical soul voice, which he uses to sing songs in the Asante Twi dialect, appeals to a wide audience. He has quite rightly been called the ‘Golden Voice of Africa’ and is still very highly regarded in Ghana. In 2015 the singer released the new album Pat Thomas & Kwashibu Area Band on which he furnishes old songs with sparkling new arrangements. Fans of Fela Kuti, Tony Allen and steamy afrobeats should definitely not miss this show.
