Ghanaian band shines at jazz festival

The group filled Café Cadeau, located in the Frederiksberg area of Copenhagen, with a graceful blend of highlife and jazz rhythms thereby turning the concert into a mini Ghanaian festival.

Employing compositions from bandleader and percussionist, Sam Tachie, the group sent the audience on a smooth journey to a village where traditional Ghanaian rhythms, beats, songs and proverbs flowed in a constant stream.   

On stage with a variety of percussion instruments, trumpet  and keyboard, Brekete Sounds proved that Ghanaian highlife is making a strong revival in this era of electronica, as the audience  immersed themselves in the refined rhythms emanating from the band. 

The Brekete guys churned out fascinating dance sounds and the crowd  responded with steps on the dance floor. 

“It was great to hear highlife  fused so well with jazz and other rhythms. It’s been a great evening and I look forward to seeing the band on stage again soon,” said Fredrik Larsen, a lawyer in Copenhagen. 

“It was a memorable concert. I was delighted to see a Ghanaian band perform at the jazz festival. I enjoyed the rhythms from the percussion instruments,” stated Merethe Larsen, a retired nurse from Albertslund, near Copenhagen.

The 38th  Copenhagen Jazz Festival presented 1, 300 concerts  at 120 venues in Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, proving once again that the city is a haven for diverse and progressive jazz.