Ayisoba plays across Europe
A certain sense of satisfaction welled up in King Ayisoba as he touched down again on Ghanaian soil with his band last week after a successful European tour that took in 48 shows between May 30 and July 15.
Advertisement
Within that period, the singer and kologo player from Bongo Soe, near Bolgatanga in the Upper East region and the three other musicians that accompanied him on the tour performed in Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Holland, France, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic.
Armed with his one-string instrument, Ayisoba and Adon Tanga (flute), Ayuuli Sule (shakers) and Asua (kalimba) produced compelling sounds that attracted many discerning music lovers to their shows across Europe.
“It is clear that the music from Africa that gets attention in Europe is not the computer generated stuff,” Ayisoba told Showbiz earlier this week.
“Music lovers there want something unique. They crave for sounds different from what they hear all the time and that was what we provided. ”
Ayisoba said though the audiences did not understand his Guruni and Twi lyrics, they could make something out of the English bits in songs like My Friend My Friend, I Want To See My Father, Don’t Joke With Your Father, The Whole World and Don’t Do The Bad Thing.
“People loved our sense of dress and dancing as well. Somebody asked if I had surgery on my voice to enable me sing the way I do.”
Ayisoba had always felt he was a world-beater since 2006 when he released the Modern Ghanaians album that contained the famous I Want To See My Father song.
The two other albums released after Modern Ghanaians: Africa and Meka both showed him as an artiste well steeped in traditional rhythms and he has continued to stay true to his musical roots.
The tour that started in May was the result of interest taken in his music by Dutch guitarist, Arnold Zea who was in Ghana in 2006 and heard I Want To See My Father all over the place.
He managed to get in touch with Ayisoba and his manager, Panji Anoff and a useful musical cooperation started between the two parties.
Zea, who owns a recording studio at Oyarifa in the Greater Accra region, facilitated a tour of some European countries for Ayisoba last year.
“It was just me and my kologo on the trip last year but the impact was good. I was invited back this year with room made for a few more musicians and I’m glad we came off well. I’m already booked to play with a bigger band in Europe in March 2013.”
Ayisoba says one of the exciting moments for him on the tour this year was a meeting with a young couple at one of his concerts in Germany.
“They introduced themselves to me and said they met for the first time at a show of mine last year. They got talking about my music, became friends and later got married. They brought some friends along this year to point out the man from Ghana whose music brought them together.”
Ayisoba will go into the studio soon to record another album but says fans that want to hear him regularly can do so from August 18 at North Kaneshie in Accra when his Africa Bar opens there.
“Being a successful musician means constant practice. The upcoming Africa Bar will be the venue for that,” he said.
Graphic Showbiz/Ghana