Princess Cynthia Sings 'Esi Ano'
Princess Cynthia, Ghana’s premier diva who continues to entertain while creating new music recordings and videos that surprises and delight music lovers is out with another exciting album titled Esi Ano.
Considered Ghana’s first lady of song, she has her own unique class which conforms with World Afro Pop music. Growing up in Takoradi, a port city in Western Ghana, she was exposed not only to the traditional music of her West African heritage but also to jazz, blues, soul and all kinds of music from around the world. The ability to fuse her African root with other forms of music led to her Afro Pop class blazing new trails with every recording.
In the early 1980s she joined her first group, the Marriots International Band. Her very first recording with this group brought her instant acclaim throughout Ghana through her hit song Akoma Edwe (cool heart) which won them an ECRAG Award.
Princess left the group to attain greater heights in her career and her first solo recording, Rhythm of Africa set her on the road to achieving her aim of reaching people with her messages through music.
Influences of Ghanaian rhythm and melodies she has imbibed as a Ghanaian youth were fused beautifully with other inspired sounds and harmonies to create a new trend she calls World Afro Pop.
Okra Oteasefo (the living soul), her second album was another success story. This album captured the attention of the world because of the fusion of traditional Ghanaian music (Ebibidwom) with pop.
Princess’ third album Esi Ano portrays a different side of her artistic abilities. Featuring eight songs all written, composed and arranged by her except Who are You by legendary Fela Anikulapo Kuti, one is assured of a good danceable selection.
Esi Ano, the title track opens the album and the intro of the lead guitar and the percussion sets the pace followed by the chorus of Margaret Abindey, Judith Ankamah-Lomotey, Princess Cynthia and T.V.O. Lamptey to pave the way for Princess to take over with her teasing vocal presentation. The instrumental nuances with the drums very prominent give this song a beautiful mid-tempo outlook entirely enjoyable.
Asew on track two is a typical Princess fusion of pop and highlife that features the chorus with Princess doing a captivating vocal combination with the chorus. The instrumentation with the keyboard solo cannot be missed. And there is no doubt that princess does enjoy toying with those beautiful voice inflections in the song which makes it so nice.
In Who Are You one of Fela’s masterpieces, Princess brings her own interpretation and playful lyrical presentation of the piece. And one cannot help enjoying her additional vocal lyrics which bring meaning to the song in a refreshing manner. The side A ends with Anka Dadzi a wonderful fast-paced highlife with a big band sound which is extremely danceable.
The flip side kicks off with Takoshwe an Afro pop tune which enjoys a wonderful keyboard and guitar and solos with lyrics that call on people who wear beautiful clothes but have dirty homes to change their ways .
Mpatadae on the other hand is a slow-paced tune that brings out the beauty in Princess’ priceless voice. Track three of the B side has Only One with a nice instrumentation that would make one move, no matter what mood he or she is in. The alto sax solos add to the enjoyment as Princess sings in Fanti, English and French in this song, which is a really good one.
Mebubuwo ends the collection on a fascinating note. The album was put together by a group of top class professionals including Eric Antonio on keyboards, Kwaff-Jay on bass, Ackah Blay on guitar, Adjetey Sowah and Joe Lamptey on percussion, with Kofi Karikari on alto sax with Isaac Afum on trumpet.