Legendary Ghanaian musician Gyedu Blay Ambolley, says the late Alfred Benjamin “A. B.” Crentsil was very passionate about the growth of Highlife and its sustainability for future generations.
Ghanaians music lovers were dealt a huge blow after the veteran musician A.B. Crenstil passed on earlier in the week, aged 79.
Ambolley, who was a very close musical colleague of A.B. Crentsil, recounted numerous conversations where the latter expressed concerns about the direction Highlife was heading, and the need to do more to grow the genre.
“Whenever we met, A.B Crenstil was very jovial and cracked a lot of jokes, but we often had discussions about the growth and emancipation of Highlife music. We always shared ideas as to how we can contribute to sustaining the genre, a course we as veteran musicians have always championed over the years,” he told the Ghana News Agency.
When asked about the legacy of A.B. Crenstil as one of Ghana’s music greats, Ambolley said: ” A.B. Crenstil had a distinct approach to his kind of music and you could always realise how unique his music was.
“He could pick a verse from the bible and create some music which could be very relevant in our way of life as Ghanaians, and this should tell you how creative he was with his style. I want him to be remembered for his contribution to the growth of Highlife, for having performed all over the world, and for his passion to see Highlife transcend musical borders,” he said.
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Ambolley was, however, worried about how Highlife had been sidestepped by younger musicians, with some radio stations not helping the course of promoting Highlife, but remained optimistic that Highlife would not die.
