Ghanaba Centenary Commemoration 2023
Donation protected
Hello, my name is Midie Ghanaba the daughter of the late Kofi Ghanaba. I am raising funds for my father's centenary celebration which is set to take place in May 2023 in Ghana. I'm planning this centenary for my father because he was an icon and a gift to the world.
Ghanaba was a renowned World Spirited Divine Drummer, born on May 4th 1923 in
the Gold Coast. He is best known for inventing the Afro Jazz Music in the 50s when he popularized African music by introducing the Ghanaian talking drums to world music. This innovation inspired great musicians like Fela Kuti and Osibisa who popularized Ghanaba's music.
Although primarily an African Jazzman, he was also a prolific writer, a reporter and a Broadcaster. He reported and edited for the Spectator, the Echo, the Independent and the Star of West Africa. He was the first journalist to write an exclusive report on Kwame Nkrumah in 1943. He also started the first gossip column in the Gold Coast and was the first African to present Jazz program for BBC in 1951.
He created personal archives of books, news papers, cuttings, photographs, recordings of Jazz and some western classical music, and public speeches including those of Kwame Nkrumah.
Ghanaba also hosted many known figures in the world of Jazz music.
He collected a plethora of materials of music history in Ghana from its Gold Coast Days. His collections are also the only archive in the world which houses all materials on his life and career. These materials are a valuable resource for scholars and journalists, researchers and lovers of African Arts and music.
Ghanaba appeared in many films, and books have been written about him, his life and how he immensely contributed to the Afro Jazz Music and the continent as a whole. Ghanaba continued to make music until his demise 2008.
Ghanaba's legacy is a gift to Africa and to the world.
Quotes about Ghanaba
Quotes about Ghanaba
“ I do remember with keen pleasure your excellent performance on those drums at the Super Show. You are a real African”
-Kwame Nkrumah.
"Ghanaba is the greatest Drummer Alive"
- John Coltrane.
"Ghanaba is the greatest Drummer Alive"
- John Coltrane.
Organizer
Midie Ghanaba
Organizer
Nepean, ON