From Cape Coast with first-rate jazz

Nya Me Dafo, a jazz band based in Cape Coast in the Central Region, recently entertained shoppers and merchants of crafts and arts products during a Christmas Fair at the Goethe-Institut in Accra.

A 23-piece band comprising African Americans from New Jersey in the United States, the group performed with passion, grace and fire as shoppers walked through dozens of stalls.

With a convenient use of percussive bass rhythms that added flavour of a different sort, the band drew cheers with an impressive stagecraft, as female saxophonists astonished the audience with their skills.

Historically, jazz is one of the musical genres heavily influenced by gospel music and putting the two styles together is always an exhilarating experience. 

Undeniably, the concert was the culmination of the two approaches and one of the coolest performances of this nature in Ghana in recent times. 

Clad in flowing white costumes, the group enchanted the crowd with music that was not only inspirational but also poignant and reminiscent of the history of gospel music in Ghana and the United States.

The concert by the Nya Me Dafo band, which has delighted audiences in several other parts of the country, was sponsored by the Goethe-Institut.