German Producer-composer J.J. Whitefield Unleashes "Ghanaian Afro-Rock" JOHNNY! 45x3 Bundle with Eric Owusu, Henry Taylor, Tomi Simatupang & Bernd Oezsevim (Now-Again)
"'Johnny"
was our band internal call for "dude," "bro," etc... our sound guy
Jochen
started, at one point, calling everyone
"Johnny"
and this spread to the point that everybody was called
"Johnny"
by everyone in the crew... [it] was easy, you didn't have to remember names... also, there is a similarity to the
West African
habit of using the name
"Charley"
for "dude,'"
Poets of Rhythm/Whitefield Brothers
mastermind
wrote within an email concerning his latest eclectic musical output,
JOHNNY!
Billed by
Now-Again
as "
Ghanaian Afro-Rock
from
German
producer/composer
JJ Whitefield
and an international cast of top-shelf musicians,"
consists of
Johnny (Henry) Taylor
on vocals/keys,
Johnny (Eric) Owusu
on vocals/percussion,
Johnny (JJ) Whitefield
on guitar,
Johnny (Tomi) Simatupang
on bass,
Johnny (Bernd) Oezsevim
on drums, and
Karl Hector
helming production duties. "
[Whitefield]
first started exploring
African
rhythms with
The Whitefield Brothers
in the late 90's, continuing in the 2000's with
Karl Hector & The Malcoun
s. He’s been instrumental in launching
Ghanaian Afro Beat/Funk
legend
Ebo Taylor
's international career, decades after the maestro recorded the landmark albums that have inspired thousands.
Whitefield
recorded two new studio albums with Taylor and toured in his band between 2009 and 2013, where he met Taylor’s son
Henry
and percussionist/singer
Eric Owusu
."
JOHNNY! & Karl Hector
are currently finishing up a proper full-length for
Now-Again
.
Johnny Whitefield
said the group's influences come from two angles: first, a recent 4-year stint as tenor guitar player in
Henry
's father
playing
Afrobeat
and
Highlife
-stylized music.
Whitefield
called it a "wonderful experience" playing with
Ebo, Henry & Eric
, having formed a close kinship easily transcending that of most touring band mates; at that time, the three young musicians already had the urge to continue making music after the
Ebo
years and in December 2012,
JJ Whitefield
decided to quit
Ebo Taylor
's band to start working on a
Zamrock
-centric project presented to him by
Now-Again Records
founder
Egon
. Together,
Egon & JJ Whitefield
re-issued, re-mastered, an properly released a big chunk of the classic sought-after 70's
Zambian Rock
LP's.
Whitefield
worked alongside
Zamrock
legends
Jagari Chanda
and
Rikki Ililonga
, a process which fueled his interest in "merging
African
rhythms with heavy
Fuzzy Rock
sounds, et voila:
JOHNNY!
got his style.” Last Wednesday, October 26th,
suddenly unleashed
JOHNNY!
's 45x3 bundle (or single 7-inch) debut containing
"Ago," "I'm Gone,"
"Only Love,"
and their companion instrumentals in a limited edition of 1000 die-cut dress jacket and re-sealable "
Japanese
-style" sleeves; upon my first listen, I almost instantly picked up notes of
Thin Lizzy
, Death,
The Rolling Stones
, Black Sabbath,
Paul Simon
's
Graceland
, Music from Saharan Cellphones,
Madlib + Mamao
's cross-continental
Sujinho
album, Stevie Wonder,
Seu Jorge
, and even Iggy & The Stooges' brand of sleazy
Fuzz Rock
.