+233 Jazz Bar & Grill salutes Agya Koo Nimo on 92nd birthday
Internationally-acclaimed Ghanaian folk and Highlife musician, Daniel Kwabena Boa-Amponsem, better known as Agya Koo Nimo, turns 92 on Friday, January 27 and the management of the +233 Jazz Bar & Grill in Accra has praised him for the giant strides he has made in music and for opening up many aspects of Ghanaian culture to the world.
Multi-instrumentalist Jonas Bibi Hammond, who has recorded and produced albums for Agya Koo Nimo, said he has a lot of respect for the veteran musician.
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“He represents the last of the great masters of the palm-wine guitar style. He incorporates a lot of items like proverbs and traditional idioms into his music. I think there should be more artistes like him representing Ghana’s music abroad,” Hammond pointed out. .
He worked with Agya Koo Nimo on his 11-track Palm Wine Music In The 21st Century album and deems it a great honour to have recorded and produced songs for the man who started his music recording career when he (Jonas Bibi Hammond) was only two years old.
Apart from the Palm Wine Music In The 21st Century album, Hammond has worked with Agya Koo Nimo on a yet-to-be released eight-track album called Abusua.
According to the engineer/producer, he has developed great rapport with Agya Koo Nimo through working together and wishes more contemporary Ghanaian musicians would take the advantage to learn from the old man.
“I wish him many more productive years. In my opinion, Agya Koo Nimo is not just a musician; he is also a great African philosopher with deep knowledge of Akan language and culture. He is a complete institution in his own right. I know his protégés like George Spratz, Akablay and Kyekyeku will be eternally grateful for tapping into his immense musical knowledge.”
In the acknowledgements section of his biography, Six Strings and a Note, written by E.Obeng-Amoako Edmonds, Agya Koo Nimo also indicated his gratitude to all the people who have been helpful in his long musical career:
“To all my friends in countries around the world whose well wishes kept me alive, and whose smiles gave me the strength to become an artist, I thank you. I’m very grateful for the opportunities I have had every step of the way, for all these years. My words will live longer than I will; so my hope is that my work has left behind a legacy for future generations.”
Surely, Agya Koo Nimo’s splendid body of work is valuable legacy for generations to come!