Modern avant-garde jazz from Ghana with a funky groove and a bold experimental sensibility.

Recorded on a hot night in a one-room gospel music studio in the New Town district of Accra, comes Gbfali — a remarkable record exploring the edges of contemporary African music. Ghanaian trombonist Elikplim Kofi and American guitarist Nathaniel Braddock had met at a concert at Accra’s Alliance Franaise in 2017 when they both performed as members of the Abiza band. When Eli heard that Braddock was returning to Ghana in 2019, he reached out via WhatsApp to suggest a collaboration, sharing a sketch of a song and asking Braddock to produce a collaboration record. That August, they set up the session joined by two percussionists, known as Black and Brown. This session is the product of that night.

Contemporary music in Ghana is dominated by a mix of afrobeats, electric gospel, and an emergent revival of highlife stars from the 1970s. This