In his short musical career Captain Yaba captivated listeners with his two-string gourd guitar grooves, and especially with the track Yaba Funk. He makes his instrument, the koliko (aka molo or xalam) sound like the root of all funk.

Captain Yaba was a Fra Fra from the northern Ghana town of Bolgatanga where the country and the culture have more in common with Sahelian neighbours than the central and coastal regions where highlife rules.

Yaba Funk Roots is a reissue of his 1996 album Tinanure, produced by Francis Fuster, the celebrated Sierra Leonean percussionist. Unfortunately Yaba died soon after that CD’s release. This RetroAfric reissue has been augmented with five tracks from the original Ghana sessions, which retain the vital edge of griot funk at which Yaba excelled. Call them premix, call them de-mix, these tracks bring added delight to a type of African music which is rarely heard in the West.

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