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At 71, still enveloped in his Ghanaian James Brown voice, with his committed and joyful flow, the creator of Afro-rap and pioneer of hiplife (a blend of hip-hop and highlife), for his forays into spoken word in the early 1970s, performed for the first time in France in early 2019. The legendary Ghanaian musician Gyedu Blay Ambolley and his Sekondi Band have 29 albums to their name. "Ketan" is the 30th. Ambolley was born in the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi (a region called Ketan), in western Ghana, West Africa. A highlife figure, considered the pioneer of hiplife and thus the father of Afro-rap, the multi-instrumentalist celebrated his silver jubilee (25 years of career) in 1998. Blay got his start through his father's flute, from the age of eight. He continued his apprenticeship by listening to Sammy Lartey and Ebo Taylor, his true mentor. During the 1960s, the young aspiring musician was impressed when he discovered "Voice of America Jazz Hour," a popular show that featured jazz giants such as Montgomery, Charlie Parker, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Eckstine... This saxophonist, singer, author, composer, and arranger of rare versatility exploded onto the music scene in 1973 with a jazz-infused highlife called "SIMIGWA-DO." He toured West Africa, Europe, Canada, and the United States, sharing the stage with a host of celebrities: Miriam Makeba, Fela Kuti, George Howard, Angela Bofill, Norman Connors, Manu Dibango, Lakeside, Chikuzan Takahash, Ricardo Estrada, and Mayuto Correa. A brilliant résumé that earned him numerous prestigious awards, both in the United States (he received a "Lifetime Achievement Award" as well as a "Certificate of Special Recognition" from the hands of the Governor of California) and in Ghana, where he was honored for his entire body of work at the Ghana Music Awards in 2013. Gyedu-Blay Ambolley developed this ability to combine a unique sound and melody with positive, often funny lyrics, culminating in a terribly danceable result. A highlife as spiritual as it is recreational, transcending all musical genres.