Accra International Jazz Club Established

In Ghana Jazz is widely considered to be the music of the rich and elite. No wonder therefore that in Ghana where majority of the people are poor this class of music does not appeal to many as Highlife, Hiplife, R and B, Reggae and Hip-hop. It is also for this reason that jazz is rarely played on FM stations.

Whilst Highlife and Hiplife artists are household names, little is known about the few local jazz musicians such as Rama Brew, Jimmy Beckley, Stefan Frowein and others. These artists can only be seen playing in the big hotels like Golden Tulip, Labadi Beach, Novotel and La Palm Royal Hotel on selected days and special occasions.

The Baseline Jazz Club, which used to provide entertainment for jazz music fans in Accra has unfortunately stopped operating for a number of reasons including poor returns from the investment into the business. Jazz does not even have a categorization in the annual music awards programme.

Through the initiative of Mr. Jimmy Beckley and Stefan Frowein, the Accra International Jazz Club has been formed to take practical steps to reverse this situation through the generation of interest in it.

Mr. Beckley who owns a jazz band called Jimmy's Combo, said in an interview that the club would create a forum for jazz musicians in Ghana and organize some capacity building exercises through workshops and seminar. He said since local jazz musicians don't normally get producers as their counterparts in the other music categories, the club would provide assistance to enable them produce live music CDs and liaise with the electronic media houses to promote their works.

He said the club would insist on the delivery of high quality live presentations and performances on a regular basis at many locations across the country.

Mr. Beckley said the club's membership is opened to both jazz music artists and fans under three different categories including Jazzman membership, Jazz addict membership and the Platinum membership or the Special Sponsorship. The Jazzman membership gives the right to free entrance to all sessions of the club and regular information on upcoming events by mail. The Addict membership gives free access to all sessions and the right to bring in a guest gratis. Information on events and a CD on the greatest events of the club would be made available also for free. The Platinum gives the member the right of entrance plus a painted portrait with the member's name, showing him playing his favuorite instrument to be displayed in the club.