BIG 4 Hit Chicago...NY Show was Great But Low Turnout

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Paapa Yankson In what was supposed to be one of the best Ghanaian shows NY had ever seen, the Big 4 music superstars; Pat Thomas, A B Crentsil, Paapa Yankson and Jewel Ackah performed greatly at the Minisink Hall in Harlem, NY. There was a low turnout at the event. The show was great and the promoters would not be deterred and is moving to the next city, the windy city, Chicago.

The show in New York was hosted by the Jerry Oku and supported by the funniest Ghanaian MC the world has ever seen, Abeiku Santana.

One thing to be said about Abeku Santana is that he is funny and adds value to an event. He can woo a crowd, and create some serious funny jokes that makes the audience laugh non-stop.

On seeing that no one was dancing and the hall sounded dull, he was the first person to get to the dance floor. Because of what he did, many in the audience joined him on the dance floor. Abeku Santa is a genius and would grace any occasion.

Paapa Yankson told the audience "whether people are coming or not the show will go on" and indeed they performed great.

Legendary Master Percussionist, Okyeremah Asante was in the house and had a great performance.

The Big 4 first came on stage to perform a song about unity. After their performance together, each artist performed two songs after the next artist. Ghanaweb commends the promoters, Helping Hands Foundation (Mr. & Mrs. Arthur) for the courage in organizing the show. New York has never experienced four legendary artists on the same bill. They have done extremely well and the audience who came to the show had a great time.

Actor/Producers, Nat Banini and Henry Nartey also came to showcase the DVD of their new movie, Omama, Royal Blood. New York's finest, DJ E-love, aka Eric Amanful and Soul Selector were on the "wheels of steel".

The Big-4 and other legendary musicians have been performing live music throughout their careers. Because of what they do best, they have traveled around the world, build a generation of fans. Their skills have made them unique, ubiquitous, legends as well innovators of sounds. Their songs get radio airplays, 24-7, 7 days a week.

The Big-4 concert series has been made possible by Helping Hands Foundation. Helping Hands Foundation based in Maryland that was founded by a Ghanaian couple; Mr. & Mrs. Sam Arthur. It has been in existence for about 5 years but has only been on a small scale.

This time around, Mr. & Mrs. Arthur decided to get into the big league by promoting the Big-4 in the United States with a tour and then use 50% of net proceeds to fund the foundation. This foundation has no specific religious affiliation, however it targeted towards Ghanaians at home who do not have access to healthcare needs e.g. prescription. The Ideology behind the fund is that "every little bit helps" In Twi it is "Ketewa bea nsua".

It may sound unheard of, especially in this day and age, but it happens every day. Imagine a mother sitting down watching her infant child die. She knows what is wrong with the child, she knows the medication to purchase but she has no money, nobody, no hope. The child looks helplessly at the mother, with tears in the eyes ...... only a miracle can save this life. Be the conduit, be the miracle, save a life ...

Most of our people die because of basic needs like healthcare. They may be able to get to Korle-Bu but may not be able to afford prescription hence they sit by and watch their loved ones die right in front of their eyes.

Helping Hands will like to do something about this. We may not be able to help everybody but we can start with one person at a time. Our aim is to invest these proceeds into the Ghanaian stock market.

Set up a physician and pharmacy group that will be aware of this program and will only refer patients or families of patients who need specific prescriptions to go to participating pharmacies to get these prescriptions and at the end of each month the bill will be forwarded to the foundation bankers who will in turn use the proceeds from dividends on stock purchases to pay for this bill.

This will not keep the money working for it self but will help people see their loved ones get better. Even if we save one person that is one funeral less that we have to worry about.

For those of us abroad, this might not seem like a big deal but remember where you came from and please look back and help. Come and join this party but at the same time, party with a purpose.

The following are the places that the Big-4 will be entertaining. Get your tickets, come and dance till you drop.

City: Chicago, IL

Date: March 19th, 9pm - 3am

Location: Cezar's Place (Octavia Room), 5001 W. 79th St. Burbank, IL

Ticket Sale: Godwin Abraham (773)42-9394

Ticket Price: $45.00 Advance $50.00 @ Gate

City - Atlanta, Georgia

Date: March 26th, 2005

Time: 9pm-3am

Location: Knights of Columbus Building, 2620 Buford Highway, Atlanta GA

Ticket Sale Contact: Shola Lewis (770) 577 1061 Ticket Price: $45.00 Advance $50.00 @ Gate

City: Dallas, Texas