Ghana: Ebo Taylor, Wiyaala announce international tours

Wiyaala’s Autumn tour in Europe begins on 19 September, while Taylor will kick off his Australian tour on 15 October.

Wiyaala’s tour commences in Izola, Slovenia, setting the stage for her nine-date concert series concluding on 31 October in Emmen, Switzerland. The artist, originally from Funsi in Ghana’s Upper West Region, is a multiple winner at the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards and All Africa Music Awards. She embarked on her solo career in 2013, releasing her debut album a year later, followed by her second album Sissala Goddess in 2018. She is also popular for tracks like ‘Rock My Body,’ ‘Make Me Dance’, ‘Tinambanyi (Here We Come)’ and ‘Africa’.

Taylor, the pioneering highlife and Afrobeat practitioner who was recognised with a Music In Africa Honorary Award in 2019 and the Music Legend of the Year Award at the 2021 Exclusive Men of the Year Africa Awards, will perform in selected venues in Australia alongside his son, Henry Taylor, and The Afrobiotics. The tour includes stops in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney.

Taylor, whose career spans more than six decades, is widely credited for his pivotal role in shaping highlife bands like the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band in the late 1950s. In 1962, he gained international acclaim by bringing taking Black Star Highlife Band to London, where he collaborated with Afrobeat founder Fela Kuti and other African musicians. Taylor’s music has been sampled by global popstars like American singer Usher, who flipped Taylor’s ‘Heaven’ for ‘She Don’t Know’ featuring Ludacris in 2009. In 2021, another American star, Kelly Rowland, sampled the Ghanaian legend’s ‘Dofo Nnyi Kyir Biara’ for her song ‘Black Magic’. 

Wiyaala Autumn 2023 Europe tour dates

• 23 September: Kammgarn, Schaffhausen, Switzerland
• 29 September: Ljubljana Castle, Ljubljana, Slovenia
• 30 September: Africa Party, Dornbirn, Austria
• 21 October: Big Screen Meets Live, Zurich, Switzerland
• 22 October: Big Screen Meets Live, Zurich, Switzerland
• 24 October: Big Screen Meets Live, Gaiserwald, Switzerland
• 26 October: Big Screen Meets Live, Muri bei Bern, Switzerland
• 28 October: Big Screen Meets Live, Chur, Switzerland
• 31 October: Big Screen Meets Live, Emmen, Switzerland

Ebo Taylor Australia 2023 tour dates

• 15 October: Freo Social, Perth
• 20 October: The Powerhouse, Brisbane (Brisbane International Jazz Festival)
• 21 October: Max Watts, Melbourne (Bonn Performance)
• 22 October: Metro Theatre, Sydney
• 23 October: Wyndham Cultural Centre, Melbourne (Melbourne International Jazz Festival)