Celebration of Highlife Music

Koo Nimo

The National Theatre last Friday, sparked off with a rich interpretation of satisfaction during the historic highlife concert organized by Heritage Development and the New York University.

Watching closely from the seat, it became irrefutable saying that the show propagated an atmosphere and mood that looked as if the audiences were having a recollection of the encounter with their first love of music, one that had audiences up from all seats and all faces lit with excitement.

Even if they had expected a good show, well the organizers did well by giving a treat that was twice more than the anticipated.

The concert theme ?Celebrating Ghanaian Highlife Music: Its Impact and Relevance? saw a satisfying attendance with audiences that could best described as the ?discerning ears?, comprising of a balanced ratio of the old folks as well as the youths.

Aside the general fun the show brought, It analyzed highlife music, its development, content as well poetry. It served as a platform for showcasing to the audiences the growth of highlife music in terms of art and, at the same time, acknowledging its pioneers.

The concert highlighted the stages of highlife music from its birth and its evolution over the years. It featured demonstrative pieces from legends like Agya Ko Nimo and Kofi Sammy through sounds of the 40s and 60s themed ?We Are Here To Stay?, sampling sounds of the 70s and 80s dubbed ?Lets Spread The Music ? Dance The Body Music? and highlife of the 90s and the millennium ?We Are Young, We Live The Music, Lets Dance?.

It featured seasoned performances from celebrated artistes like Mac Tontoh, C.K. Mann, Awurama Badu, Orlando Julius, the evergreen Wulomei, Pozo Hayes and George Darko amongst others.

One would admit that until about two decades ago when western music evaded the airwaves of mother Ghana, highlife was the most prevalent (if not the only) music the people knew. Just like a section of the audience said ?This is our indigenous identity?.