Emmanuel Tettey ( E.T. ) Mensah (31 May 1919 – 19 July 1996) was a Ghanaian musician who was regarded as the “King of Highlife” music. He led The Tempos, a band that toured widely in West Africa.
Early Life
Mensah was born in Accra, Ghana, which was then known as the Gold Coast. He had his early education at Accra’s Government School and later at Accra High School.
He began playing piccolo and flute in the Accra Orchestra, a schoolchildren’s band, at the age of 12 in the Government School band. In 1932, he began playing piccolo and flute in the Accra Orchestra, a schoolchildren’s band.
At the time, the Accra Orchestra was led by Joe Lamptey, a teacher who gathered bright young people to establish a band.
Mensah stayed with the orchestra and learned how to play the alto saxophone.
His musical career took off after he was able to fund his own musical endeavors by operating a pharmacy.
Yebuah Mensah, E.T. Mensah’s older brother, was the head of a dance orchestra on the Gold Coast.
The Accra Rhythmic Orchestra, founded by Yebuah Mensah and his younger brother E.T. Mensah, won the Lambeth Walk Dance Competition in 1939 at the King George Memorial Hall, now known as Ghana’s Parliament House.
The Tempos and later career
The original “Tempos” band was formed in 1946 as a “jam session” group by some European soldiers stationed in Accra. It played for army dances and at the Accra club.
Over time, African musicians replaced the European ones, until finally; it became an all-African band. Mensah joined the band in 1947. Shortly after this, the band split up, to be reformed again with Mensah as its leader.
The group gained international attention and in 1957 Mensah performed with Louis Armstrong.
The highlife style of music started to decline in the 1960s, but E. T. Mensah remained active for years afterwards.
He co-starred on a highly successful album with the Nigerian trumpeter Dr. Victor Abimbola Olaiya.
In 1975, at the National Arts Festival, the Arts Council of Ghana honored E.T. Mensah with a stool in recognition of the title conferred to him as the “King of Highlife”.
In 1980, E.T Mensah was elected the first president of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA). In 1986 despite being confined to a wheelchair, he embarked on a world tour, and that same year, a show was organised in his honour in Lagos, Nigeria.
In 1989 he was formally honoured by the Ghanaian government with the title “Okunini” (Very famous man) for his contribution to the country’s culture. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate.
Discography
- T. Mensah & The Tempos
King of Highlife Anthology, four-CD box (2015, RetroAfrica)
Contributing artist
The Rough Guide to West African Music (1996, World Music Network)
The Rough Guide to Highlife (2003, World Music Network)