The African Rock 'n' Roll Years - The High Life Zone

This edition of the series about African popular music explores the effect of Caribbean mento music and calypso on the palm wine styles that developed in Sierra Leone and tells how that music affected the popular highlife dance styles of Ghana and influenced juju music in Nigeria and the Makossa dance scene in Cameroon. Much of the great music from the region comes from Nigeria, from the juju big band styles of King Sunny Ade, the first West African musician to be heavily promoted in the west, through to the Afrobeat fusion of the wild and legendary Fela Kuti. Featured artists include Fela Kuti, Femi Kuti, King Sunny Ade, Osibisa, Alpha Blondy, Angelique Kidjo and Manu Dibango.