Nick Drake teamed up with African percussionist Reebop Kwaku Baah on sessions for his classic album Five Leaves Left.

It is the fate of the freelance percussionist to linger in the shadows, a rarely spotted and often unappreciated accessory to headline acts.

Their subtle but often vital contributions, adding texture and detail, tend to be diminished as mere embellishments to a performance. But they are often crucial to the overall sound, even if we might struggle to name them.

They also add colour, both literally and aurally; think of the flamboyant Ray Cooper, his fondness for a Hawaiian shirt and ostentatious way with maracas – like a flair bartender with a cocktail shaker.

I once sat next to him on a flight from Tokyo to London (perhaps they mixed up the names on our tickets) and he was great company for the journey, as you might expect from a man who has played with everyone from Elton to Eric Clapton and George Harrison.

Then there is Naná Vasconcelos, a Brazilian percussionist who elevated the art of percussion alongside artists ranging from Paul Simon to Talking Heads, Debbie Harry and Brian Eno.

Another is the Ghanaian percussionist Anthony ‘Reebo’ Kwaku Baah, best known for his stints in Traffic and Can in the 1970s. He also recorded a handful of excellent solo albums in the jazz fusion vein, one of which enjoyed the title Melodies In A Jungle Man’s Head.

As a freelance session man, he was one of those Zelig-like figures, turning up everywhere, from Free’s hit single Wishing Well to the Stones’ album Goats Head Soup, and solo efforts by former bandmates Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi, Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay.

This, though, may be my favourite contribution, and one of his earliest: recorded in November 1968 with Nick Drake and future bandmate Chris Wood of Traffic during sessions for Drake’s landmark album Five Leaves Left.

Reebop’s congas (and Wood’s flute) add new textures to Drake’s dreamlike voice and acoustic fingerpicking; this version remained unreleased for more than three decades until it appeared on a box set in 2004.