Legacy Alive concert celebrates Nana Danso Abiam

There couldn’t have been a more appropriate theme for the Pan-African Youth Orchestra’s (PAYO) concert at the Folks Place, National Theatre, on Saturday, August 17 than the ascribed Legacy Alive.

Everything that happened at the performance clearly affirmed the neo-classical African music legacy of the late musicologist, multi-instrumentalist, composer/arranger and founder of the Pan-African Orchestra (PAO), Nana Danso Abiam.

From repertoire, instrumentation, style of conducting and general presentation by PAYO on the night, anyone familiar with Nana Danso’s exploits with the PAO could attest  that the programme truly hailed the man who died on November 24, 2014. 

PAYO was started by the National Theatre, in collaboration with Nana Danso, as the youth component of the PAO in 1995. It held its first public performance on May 23, 1996 at the National Theatre. 

The late eminent musicologist, Prof. Kwabena Nketia, was in the audience that night. He was impressed with what he heard and predicted a bright future for the orchestra provided it got the right support. 

Legacy Alive concert 

The Legacy Alive concert saw a PAYO of about 26 players who showed their abilities on instruments such as the Atentebenflute, gyile xylophone and an assortment of African drums, bells and shakers. 

The repertoire was well-executed by the bunch of young musicians. It was evident several in the audience, including diplomats and loyal friends of PAYO, enjoyed what unfolded before them as they clapped or moved their bodies to Yaa Yaa Kole,  Adawura Kasa, No Agreement, SisaalaSebrew and Music for the Gong Gong. 

Guest acts on the night included the HEARD band from New York, United States led by Elizabeth Woodbury Kasius on piano, melodica and vocals. Offering Jazz coated with rhythms from different parts of the world, the band’s membership included Zorkie Nelson, a former PAO member, on percussion.

Two other former PAO members appeared as guests at the show. They were flutist Mensah Yemoh and singer Lady Zouzou. Well-known gonje player, Meriga, also performed.

PAYO’s repertoire at the nearly two-hour Legacy Alive concert, except for one piece composed by its conductor, Kweku Kwakye, was what one would have encountered at a PAO performance. They were all material crafted for PAO by Nana Danso.

It is 10 years now since Nana Danso left us. So maybe, it is in order if the group established as a youth wing of his PAO offers his compositions at a gig meant to celebrate his legacy. 

Admittedly, PAYO has been a cash-strapped outfit for long. Some credit must, however, go to Kweku Kwakye and a couple of other people, for managing to keep it afloat despite the occasional periods of dormancy.

Financial support

There’s a niggling feeling, however, that PAYO is caught in a sticky groove it must try and escape. The orchestra needs to vary its repertoire and hold up a fresh mint of neo-classical African music to the public. New material must definitely come in. That would definitely require some critical material resources as well as adequate knowledge and understanding of music to execute. 

The emcee at the ‘Legacy Alive performance, Asiedu Kwakye, and PAYO manager, Paa Kwesi Holdbrook-Smith, made appeals for people to support the orchestra in cash or in kind. That was appropriate because pulling along a group of at least 35 persons, even if not on full-time basis, is a tall order.

The idea of Ghana spearheading the development of a Pan-African musical culture as envisaged by Nana Danso is great. What is frustrating is to have brilliant ideas which cannot be translated into extensive action because there aren’t enough similar minds with the requisite resources to help make those ideas fly.

Attempting to move forward with Nana Danso’s vision of diligently exploring the classical foundations of African music cannot be an easy ride.  There are still no outfits or factories that make standardised African instruments and there is no conservatory that trains people in African instruments. 

Before his demise, Nana Danso indicated that to be able to maintain an active, progressive Pan-African orchestra, funding to pay professional fees to his musicians was needed. It was also necessary to be resourced enough to acquire and maintain instruments and undertake projects such as recordings, workshops and live performances. 

Nana Danso was a revolutionary who had no competitor in terms of his radical ideas to push traditional African music to new heights. It was a tough task but he did what he could as he nurtured the PAO into a first-rate, world-class unit. He made African instruments that had never been combined before in a single piece blend in captivating tunes. 

Kweku Kwakye and his few partners-in-arms trying to sustain PAYO and the neo-classical African music agenda need to carefully strategise on how to overcome the funding headache. Without adequate resources to see to the basic but essential needs of the orchestra, the zeal to do anything meaningful could fizzle out. Only high hopes floating in the wind are what would then be left.