Here comes Peter White
The two gigs comprise the Stanbic Ghana Jazz Festival being organised by Smooth Jazz Ghana Limited in collaboration with Stanbic Bank and Live FM.
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The festival was launched at the Stanbic Bank office near the Kotoka Airport in Accra last Wednesday.
Peter White played a concert in Accra last year and Kwasi Kwakye, Project Director of Smooth Jazz Ghana Limited said at the launch that his outfit was happy to bring the great guitarist back to Ghana.
The versatile Peter White also plays the accordion and the piano. His abilities on the acoustic guitarist are, however, what have propelled him to the international glory he enjoys at the moment.
The British-born guitarist has an outstanding combination of lyricism and energy and merges elements of jazz, pop and classical guitar to create a unique sound that is also accessible to a broad audience.
“We aim to make good jazz music accessible to jazz lovers in Ghana. We also desire to bring local jazz artistes together to collaborate with international stars and we urge everybody to join in this move,” Kwakye said.
Other acts billed to feature at the two Peter White concerts include pianist, Oli Silk, from England and singer, Ofie Kodjoe, as well as guitarist, Akablay, and his Abiza band from Ghana.
George Brun, Chief Operating Officer at Live FM in Accra said music lovers who missed Peter White last year should make it a point to see him perform this time around.
“ His last concert here was a memorable experience. For me, Peter White back to play again in Ghana is something I cannot wait for. I want to see everyone there and I know you will enjoy listening to him play,” Brun said.
Mawuko Afadzinu, Head of Marketing at Stanbic Bank said jazz has a unique way of bringing people from various backgrounds together and urged the public to patronise the upcoming concerts.
“We want to bring the best there are in the world here as a way of building up our own artistes to create a platform for everyone to come together and enjoy the music,” Afadzinu said.
He pointed out that his outfit was looking forward to helping to create the biggest jazz event in West Africa in the coming years.
Born in a small town north of London, Peter White learned to play several musical instruments, including the clarinet, trombone, violin and piano. Like many youngsters growing up during the heyday of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, he gravitated toward the guitar.
He learned his first chords on an acoustic guitar, then bought his first electric guitar in his early teens. He then studied the recordings of the reigning guitar gurus of the day: Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
