?Sounds Of Africa?

Ghanaian-born entertainment media producer, composer and performer Kobena B.P. Acquaah-Harrison has been making his mark on Toronto?s number one African radio show, Sounds of Africa as host.

He has recently launched ??Michezo! International Festival,? a unique annual celebration of traditional African culture, on an island on Lake Ontario. The festival features music and games such as oware and ampe as competition sports.

Born in Kumasi to an urban planner, Mr. Richard Acquaah-Harrison and Mrs. Muriel Acquaah-Harrison, an English teacher from Bermuda, Kobena with his brother Kojo emigrated with their family to settle in Toronto at a very early age.

Racial constraints have not deterred Kobena from promoting African culture in Canada, the USA or wherever he tours. As he states, ?I reside in Canada but I am rooted in Ghana?.

His several awards and nominations attest to that including a 2001 Anansekrom Award for ?Traditional African Music In Canada, two TAMA ? Toronto African Music Awards; for Composition, and Media, and mostly recently a 2004 Ghanaian-Canadian Achievement Award?.

The Canada Council for the Arts has stated to ?some degree, the presence of African music in Toronto owes a great deal to his efforts as a radio host, producer, reviewer, organizer and artist?.

Kobena advocates preserving traditional African music and values. His performances incorporate elements of many African nations. Still, he believes ?tradition? is neither static nor unchanging. His January 2004 concert at Jazz Tone in Accra, demonstrated this, and marked his first performance in ten years with his only sibling Kojo Acquaah-Harrison.

The show at the club was very well attended and the audience was thrilled with original neo-traditional African melodies and jazzy numbers that were hard to categorize, yet danceable and appealing.