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Artist
Ambrose Campbell
12+ albums
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about
Born Oladipupo Adekoya Campbell in Lagos, Nigeria, on August 19, 1919, Ambrose Campbell was the leader of Britain's first-ever black band, The West African Rhythm Brothers The group made its first public appearance in London at the May 1945 celebrations in honor of VE Day, performing in Piccadilly Circus as their fellow Londoners celebrated the Nazis' defeat. IIn 1946 the West African Rhythm Brothers toured the U.K. in support of Les Ballets Nègres, Britain's first black ballet company. Around 1952, the West African Rhythm Brothers were named the regular headliner of the Nigerian-owned Soho nightclub the Abalabi and signed to Emil Shalit's proto-world music label Melodisc to cut a series of 10" 78-rpm discs that document the birth of a new African music forged and shaped by the immigrant experience. Their fame grew when the Abalabi relocated to the more upmarket Wardour Street area and reopened under the name Club Afrique. Following creative dissension with Brewster Hughes, Campbell formed a new band in 1961 and toured Italy, returning to London to form a production company with lawyer and political advisor Lord Arnold Goodman. He also released his lone major-label effort, Highlife Today, on Columbia in 1968. But in 1972 Campbell abruptly relocated to the U.S. at the invitation of record producer Denny Cordell -- in Los Angeles, he befriended the blue-eyed soul man Leon Russell, who installed him as a percussionist in his touring band. Campbell and Russell (who dubbed the Ni
top songs
albums
London is the Place for Me 2
London Is The Place For Me 2: Calypso & Kwela, Highlife & Jazz From Young Black London
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London Is The Place For Me 2: Calypso And Kwela, Highlife And Jazz From Young Black London
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London Is the Place for Me, Vol. 2
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London is the place for me 2, Calypso & Kwela, Highlife & Jazz from Young Black London
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London Is The Place For Me 2: Calypso Kwela Highlife and Jazz from Young Black London
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London is the place for me vol. 2
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London is the place for me 2,
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London is the Place for Me, Vol. 2: Calypso & Kwela, Highlife & Jazz From Young Black London
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London Is the Place for Me Vol.2: Calypso Kwela Highlife and Jazz From Young Black London
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London is the Place for Me Vol.2: Calypso & Kwela, Highlife & Jazz from Young Black London
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