About — Horn to Horn: The La Drivers Union Por Por Group meet The Texas Horn

It’s Fall 2021. Everybody’s got the covid blues. Gigs are few. And I land one, in Austin, Texas, where I lived 1985-1995 to teach music and anthropology at UT. Friendships from those years resound to the present. One of the longest is with Mark ‘Kaz’ Kazanoff, the mighty blues tenor saxophonist, arranger and bandleader, who invites me to stay at his home during my visit. We get to talking one night, and he’s saying, “you know, Steve, of all of your projects, the one I keep coming back to is that honk horn music by the Ghana truck drivers. That stuff is just so funky!!” We share our mutual enthusiasm for this unique musical invention, until…light bulb ON! “What if…? And immediately, “No way!!’ Until we get to: “Could we?” Until we get to: “YES, we gotta try it!”

So I get on the phone to Nii Yemo Nunu, the Accra photographer who has collaborated with me since 2005 to produce cds, films, and books about Por Por, the unique honking of antique squeeze-bulb klaxon truck horns for driver funerals in his Accra community of La. I suggest a possible Austin-Accra honkout, and send some tracks by Kaz and The Texas Horns to his cell phone. He meets to listen with our old friends, Por Por band leader ‘Vice’- Nii Ashai Ollenu, and arranger ‘Mas T’ – Nii Tetteh Boye La. Then he texts me back: “Wow, man, Por Por together with rhythm and blues all-stars! WHO KNOWS TOMORROW!”

So I start transcribing and Kaz dives in even deeper, recomposing new versions of tracks from the 2007 Smithsonian Folkways CD, Por Por: Honk Horn Music of Ghana. And then, still full of head-scratching wonder, we assemble at Austin’s Wire Recording in March 2022, The Texas Horns – Kaz, John Mills, and Al Gomez – and great local rhythm and percussion artists for a few days of spirited sessions.

Produced and annotated by Steven Feld, Mark ‘Kaz’ Kazanoff, and Nii Yemo Nunu

The Texas Horns and Austin overdub sessions were recorded in March and November 2022, and March 2023, by Stuart Sullivan at Wire Recording, Austin; Drew Potter, assistant.

The La Drivers Union Por Por Group and Accra overdub sessions were recorded in October 2022 and February 2023, by Steven Feld at Attigah House, Ollennu House, and Anyaa Arts Centre. Por Por track assembly by Bill Boaz and Steven Feld at Fourth World, Santa Fe.

Mixed by Stuart Sullivan
Mastered by Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova
Project Photographs: Steven Feld, Nii Yemo Nunu, and Hannah Schreckenbach

Hit Pause, listen, send the tracks to Accra for feedback, take some deep breaths. Then the message: “Yes! We love it!” OK!! Time to buy plane tickets.

Our Accra visit in September-October of 2022 was absolutely special. The Por Por group was deeply touched by Kaz’ respect for their music and desire to take it to a world of listeners far more familiar with the rocking R&B, soul, and jazz sounds of The Texas Horns. With great enthusiasm Mas T contributed new Por Por compositions, and we also recorded honk horn overdub conversations to the Austin tracks. Longtime colleagues Nii Noi Nortey and Nii Otoo Annan welcomed us at the Anyaa Arts Centre and contributed great additional sounds and ideas.

The conversation percolating higher, we returned to the US, me to assemble the new recordings, and Kaz to write TTxH overdub arrangements for the new Accra songs. We recorded them in Austin in November, and once we had a rough mix, I returned to Accra in February 2023 for final overdubs and to present the work to our fabulous bandmates. “Oh yes, Prof.” said Nii Ashai. “Your people have done well. We can hear your van driving just next to ours.”

So here comes a lorry whose absolutely unique engine is fitted with honk horns and percussion, newly sparked by the many surprises of Kaz’s harmonies and accents for saxes, brass, guitars, bass, and keyboards. Here comes the horn to horn, soul to soul, one of a kind and two of a mind cross-Atlantic conversation of the La Drivers Union Por Por Group and The Texas Horns. A honkout supreme! What a joyful noise!

Painting: Nicholas Wayo, Accra, 2023
Sculpture: Nii Noi Nortey, Accra, 2023
Design: Michael Motley
Webmaster: Jeremiah Ra Richards

For their inspiration and friendship Steve and Kaz thank with praise The La
Drivers Union Por Por Group, Nii Ashai Ollennu, Nii Tetteh Boye La, Nii Yemo Nunu, Nii Noi Nortey, and Nii Otoo Annan. Also in Accra we thank Eyram and Eli Attigah. For their dedication to this unique project we thank Al Gomez and John Mills, all of our formidable guest artists, our engineer Stuart Sullivan, and the VoxLox crew, Bill Boaz, Michael Motley, and Jeremiah Ra Richards. And to Mickey Hart, a very, very loud honk always.

Horn to Horn © VoxLox 2023