King Ayisoba performing at WOMAD 2020 Photo: Isabella Brown
King Ayisoba comes from the village Bongo Soe near Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region of Ghana. His music is a unique and powerful mix of traditional Kologo music mixed with intense afro-blues rhythms.
An unlikely star in Ghana, he has topped the charts with songs I Want To See You My Father and Wicked Leaders, his success gaining him international recognition and dates across Europe and in America.
His live shows are known for their striking intensity, a combination of genuine urgency in his raw, gravelly voice, and his prodigious musicianship on the kologo - a two-stringed, traditional West African instrument that is thought to be an ancestor to the banjo.
By the time King Ayisoba touched down in Taranaki to wow crowds at WOMAD 2020 he was drawing on a repertoire of five albums from a recording career that began in 2006 with his first album Modern Ghanaians.
Song Titles: I Want To See You, My Friend, My Friend, Bayethbro, Doka Mon Bon Sela, Wicked Leaders, Mbee Mbee, Baba Pore Mpauema, Yallema, Modern Ghanian, The Whole World.
Recorded and Produced by William Saunders for RNZ Music
