Constant Boty, others thrill at Alliance Francaise
A concert to mark 60 years of relations between Ghana and France has been held at the Alliance Francaise in Accra with Ghana-based Ivorian guitarist and composer, Constant Boty, as the lead act.
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Boty is a fluid player and his Guru Guru Band delighted the audience with a pleasant blend of jazz, rock, blues and diverse African rhythms.
They dished out crisp sounds and meticulous arrangements that showed their immense abilities to improvise and also groove along with strictly structured pieces.
The group dug deep into its wide repertoire and showed itself as a brilliant collection of players worthy of bigger recognition on the music scene here.
Singer Yasmeen Helwani joined the band at a stage in the concert and helped charge up the atmosphere even more with her radiant, high energy vocals.
“Boty is an amazing and highly influential songwriter. His background as a classical guitarist has heavily influenced his work. It was a wonderful evening of infectious rhythms and lovely voices, ” said Kofi Mensah, a music enthusiast in Accra.
Earlier, the Local Dimension Band led by Aaron Bebe, excited the audience with refreshing tunes on an array of African instruments that revealed the beauty and diversity of neo-traditional Ghanaian and African music.
Hip Hop and Soul artiste, K Steez (Coco Stone), opened the concert with issues-driven lyrics about ‘galamsey’ (illegal mining) and his experiences living in France, Switzerland, England and the United States.
