The Mirror's Health , Lifestyle and Fashion
String men thrill at Highlife Jamboree Night
After running through their first number which embraced intelligent improvisation, there were enthusiastic calls from the small but attentive audience for an encore. The musicians willingly obliged, with Thomas shifting to violin, the instrument he is more known for.
Advertisement
The two string men had no choice than to go through a third song and were joined at that stage by guitarist Naya Plange for a tasteful tapestry of improvised music.
It all happened at a concert dubbed Highlife Music Jamboree Night at the Vivivi Studios, West Legon in Accra on March 5 to mark the 65th anniversary of Ghana’s Independence Day.
Awingura was a member of the defunct Gonje Band which played a vibrant mix of traditional and contemporary African rhythms. Thomas is an experienced, versatile string man who has played with Amakye Dede, Amandzeba, National Symphony Orchestra and many other acts.
Before introducing them, Dr Yaw Owusu-Frimpong of Vivivi Studios said there was too much emphasis on the middle and southern parts of the country whenever the discussion turned to highlife. To him, the northern section of Ghana had a lot of music that had not been exploited and it was time to pay more attention to that territory as well.
It was a relaxing, open-air event which saw performances from other artistes such as the Vivivi Band, Awurama Agyapong, Naya Plange, Akwesi Abayie, Akoto and Gyedu Blay Ambolley.
There were also brief speeches on aspects of traditional music and dance by Prof. Andrews Agyemfra-Tettey and Dr Sylvanus Kuwor, both from the University of Ghana, Legon. Gyedu Blay Ambolley spoke on the need for Ghanaian musicians to hold on to highlife in all its forms and project it to the world.
Guests at the event included veteran broadcaster, Robert Owusu, who turned 85 on March 1.
