Evento

Obo Addy & Okropong

African musical history comes to life when master drummer Obo Addy steps on stage. Addy presents traditional songs from Ghana sung in a vigorous call and response style to the accompaniment of many African hand drums and gongo bells. Traditional dance accompanies his music. Also included in performances are two original instrumentals featuring lively melodies played on a soft-toned wooden xylophone.

Obo Addy, one of the key originators of the seminal musical movement now known as "Worldbeat," is a prominent member of the first generation of African musicians to bring their traditional and popular music to Europe and America.

An original and respected composer whose music reaches far beyond the boundaries of his land of birth, Addy has a twenty-year presence on the international performing arts scene and has become known for his ability to celebrate past traditions while expanding to embrace new ideas and foreign influences through his music and community outreach work as director of Homowo African Arts and Cultures.

Okropong, meaning "eagle" in Obo Addy's native Ga language, performs traditional Ghanaian dance and music chosen from the various ethnic cultures in Ghana, including Ga, Ewe, Ashanti, Dagomba and Dagarti. Using a variety of hand and stick drums, talking drums, bells and shakers, the musicians build layers of driving rhythms while the dancers, clad in colorful West African garments, engage in an energetic physical "conversation" with the drummers.