Emmanuel Tettey Mensah (31 May 1919 – 19 July 1996) was a

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian musician who was regarded as the "King of

Highlife Highlife is a Ghanaian music genre that originated along the coastal cities of present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (region), history as a colony of the British and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It encompasse ...

" music. He led The Tempos, a band that toured widely in West Africa.

Early years

Mensah was born at

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

, in the Gold Coast, West Africa. His early education took place at the Government School, Accra, and later at Accra High School. At the age of 12 he learned to play

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

in the Government School band and in 1932 he began playing

piccolo The piccolo ( ; ) is a smaller version of the western concert flute and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. Sometimes referred to as a "baby flute" or piccolo flute, the modern piccolo has the same type of fingerings as the ...

and flute in the Accra Orchestra, a schoolchildren's band. The leader of the Accra Orchestra at the time was a teacher, Joe Lamptey, who gathered talented young people together to form a band. Mensah continued to play with this orchestra and also learnt to play the alto-saxophone. His musical career was given an opportunity when he was able to finance his own musical ventures by opening a

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

.''Decca Presents E. T. Mensah And His Tempo's Band'' — album information
on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

WAL 1001 E.T. Mensah also has an elder brother, Yebuah Mensah, who was the leader of a dance orchestra in the Gold Coast. Yebuah Mensah and his younger brother E.T. Mensah formed the Accra Rhythmic Orchestra, which won the Lambeth Walk Dance Competition in 1939 at the King George Memorial Hall, now known as the Parliament House in

The Tempos and later career

The original "Tempos" band was formed in 1946 as a "

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

" group by some European soldiers stationed in Accra. It played for army dances and at the Accra club. Over time, African musicians replaced the European ones, until finally it became an all-African band. Mensah joined the band in 1947. Shortly after this the band split up, to be reformed again with Mensah as its leader. The group gained international attention and in 1957 Mensah performed with

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

. The highlife style of music started to decline in the 1960s, but E. T. Mensah remained active for years afterwards. He co-starred on a highly successful album with the

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

n trumpeter Dr Victor Abimbola Olaiya.

Discography

;E. T. Mensah & The Tempos * ''King of Highlife Anthology'', four-CD box (2015, RetroAfrica)"A HOT BOX OF HIGHLIFE DELIGHTS! E.T. Mensah & The Tempos: King of Highlife Anthology"
RetroAfric.com ;Contributing artist * ''

The Rough Guide to West African Music ''The Rough Guide to West African Music'' is a world music compilation album originally released in 1995. The second release of the World Music Network Rough Guides series, it largely focuses on Malian music, with six of the twelve tracks coming ...

'' (1996,

World Music Network World Music Network is a UK-based record label specializing in world music. The World Music Network website features news, reviews, live music listings, and guide sections on world music. It also features an online "Battle of the Bands" competi ...

) * '' The Rough Guide to Highlife'' (2003, World Music Network)

References

External links

* Africa House at New York University. * * * *
"Best of The Beat on Afropop: E.T. Mensah, Highlife and History--Ghana’s 60th Independence Day"
Afripop, 15 March 2017. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mensah, E.T. 1919 births 1996 deaths Ghanaian highlife musicians Musicians from Accra Ga-Adangbe people

Early years

The Tempos and later career

Discography

References

Further reading

External links