AMG Review of Best of Osibisa [Prestige]

Steve Leggett
All Music Guide

Osibisa, led by sax player and drummer Teddy Osei, was made up of musicians from Ghana, Britain, and the Caribbean, and their easy-to-please mixture of highlife, rock, reggae, jazz, and funk helped define Afro-pop and paved the way to international attention for more challenging African acts like Fela Kuti and Thomas Mapfumo. The three-disc Best of Osibisa set collects three of their more interesting albums, Welcome Home (1975), Ojah Awake (1976), and African Flight (1981), making a more than adequate introduction to this popular group, whose good intentions make up for their occasional MOR tendencies.