SK Kakraba

LA Weekly once called SK Kakraba the world's greatest xylophone player. He plays the gyil, the Lobi xylophone of north-western Ghana, and builds his own instruments.

Saru village

He grew up in Saru, a small Lobi village where the gyil is played at funerals to help the dead reach the afterlife. His parents and other relatives played, including his uncle, the celebrated Kakraba Lobi. He learned to make the 14-key instrument from neura, a rare hardwood that is only cut once a tree has fallen on its own. In 1997 he moved to Accra, busked, and joined Hewale Sounds, a group devoted to traditional Ghanaian music. He has taught the gyil at the University of Ghana's International Centre for African Music and Dance.

Recordings

His SK Kakraba Band's self-titled cassette, released on Holy Page in September 2013, topped Fact magazine's list of the year's best cassette releases. After moving to the United States he released the solo album Yonye on Sun Ark Records in July 2015. Songs of Paapieye followed that October as the first new recording on Awesome Tapes From Africa, six solo pieces recorded live in a San Francisco studio owned by his friend Brian Hogan.