Collaboration in music industry and its impact
Collaboration is the act of working together, especially in literary, artistic or scientific productions. This definition includes areas of human endeavour such as politics, trade, industry, security, education, health and sports.
In the music industry, there are different forms of collaboration with varying objectives, interests and intended outcomes. Here, the team players include composers/songwriters, musicians and producers.
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Songwriters
These are creators of the inputs, so to speak, that musicians/performers rely on to produce music. Songwriters may directly impact the interpretation of their works if they happen to be part of a performing group or have a relationship with it.
On the other hand, if the music is scored in cold print, it requires technical knowledge and skills of others to play it into life without the involvement of the original composer.
It is on record, for example, that in the mid to late 1960’s, Kofi Ani Johnson, Nana Kwame Ampadu and Oscarmore Ofori wrote highlife songs for Jerry Hanson’s Ramblers Dance Band.
These included “Akokonini, “Agyanka Dabre”, “Ama Bonsu”, respectively. These composers obviously must have had a hand in the final outcome of their creative works which are rated highly among the local highlife classics.
Composer/performers
These are composers who perform their works with bands other than their own. Lord Bob Cole, a comedian who led his own (concert) guitar band, wrote and sang some of his highlife songs with the Black Beats Dance Band. “Aban Nkaba” and “Kaper ba” were popular highlife hits in the mid-1960’s.
He also wrote and performed “Nigeria Akwantu” with the GBC Dance Band. This song is particularly interesting for the vivid description of his travel experiences in Nigeria.
Guest Artistes
Bands do occasionally invite other musicians for recording or performance sessions over specific periods. Such invitations may be necessitated by aesthetic or stylistic considerations in order to spice the band’s repertoire with a particular brand.
Senior Eddie Donkor, a member of Nana Ampadu’s African Brothers Band, featured in “Medofo Adaadaa Me”, “Aboagyewaa” and other tracks which were recorded with Awurama Badu’s Band.
His distinctive way of playing the rhythm guitar must have immensely contributed to the huge success of this album on the highlife scene in the mid 1970’s.
Alfred Bannerman, an accomplished rock/jazz guitarist, was a guest artiste in a recording project with the Tagoe Sisters, a gospel group. One of the products of this collaboration was the album which included the song “Fa Biribiara Ma No”. His excellent guitar work added a touch of class to this album.
Other secular musicians who have teamed up with gospel or church groups include Ebow Taylor, a versatile guitarist of Broadway Dance Band fame. He led the Saltpond Methodist Church Choir in the rendition of some favourite Methodist hymns, including “Asodzi Da Modo”.
Jewel Ackah, a highlife singer, went a similar way with some church choirs in Tema. He later partnered gospel singer Joyce Blessing to record “Nyame Aguama”, one of the favourite gospel songs that hit the gospel music circuit with a bang in 2017.
Experimentation
This is basically a journey into uncharted or unfamiliar musical territory. A case in point is Paul Simon’s Graceland album which was recorded in the mid 1980’s. The American singer/songwriter assembled a group of African artistes, including Ghana’s Okyerema Asante, to produce music with strong South African town hall jazz flavour but which nevertheless had a universal appeal. “Call Me Alf” and “Diamond in the Soles of Her Feet” are typical examples.
Another example is South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela’s short stint with Ghana’s Hedzoleh Soundz. The outcome was an album recorded in the highlife vein with the title track “Rekpete” standing out.
The album presents a rich mix of Ghanaian highlife rhythms interwoven with crisp, delightful trumpet solos.
Special purposes
Collaboration has been instrumental in raising funds for humanitarian and other specific purposes. The 1984 Band Aid concerts organised by Bob Geldorf in London and New York raised funds to help Ethiopian famine victims.
A selection of popular music stars from many parts of the world produced the theme song “Do They Know It’s Christmas ?” which featured prominently in the fundraising efforts.
Early in 1985, a galaxy of top American musicians under the direction of Quincy Jones recorded the single, “We Are The World”, which was co-authored by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. Over 63 million US dollars was realised from it to support humanitarian activities in Africa.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), collaboration in the music industry was exploited for good measure to establish a semblance of national unity during the reign of former President Mobutu Seseseko in the 1970’s and 1980’s.
For example, it was used to douse the nationwide tensions that generally characterised the “bitter rivalry” between fans of the two local rhumba music giants, Franco O.K. Jazz and Tabu Ley Rochereau.
Sustained political pressure forced the two local icons to undertake joint recording and performance sessions in the interest of promoting public peace.
Value addition
Collaboration offers opportunities for musicians to improve on their performance skills. By featuring Ofori Amponsah in “Odo Mmra Fie” in the early 2000’s, Daddy Lumba created fertile grounds for the former to grow his successful music career.
Later on when, he came into his own, Ofori Amponsah’s partnership with singers K.K. Fosu, Barosky, Samini and others churned out some of his finest popular recordings such as “Rakiya”, “Otoolege”, “Odo Dwo Se Nsuonwini”, among others.
There is a noticeable drive among some local musicians to undertake joint productions. This commendable move has the potential to increase patronage as it targets bigger audiences, young and old.
The Kojo Anwi/Stonebwoy, Kojo Antwi/King Promise, Shatta Walle/Kofi Kinata, Samini/Kofi Kinata, Article One/Patapaa pairings, among others are positive steps. Kojo Antwi disclosed recently that his rationale for teaming up with younger musicians was to combine experience with youthful energy to create a much-needed qualitative force that would propel the local music industry to new heights.
Observations
It is clear from the foregoing that collaboration is embedded with the potential to encourage and promote the spirit of close co-operation, give-and-take, trust and respect among artistes.
The inherent cross fertilisation of ideas, concepts and perspectives is healthy for effective teamwork in the creative arts business, and this should not be lost on players in the music industry.
Surely, collaboration must be the name of the game.
The writer is a retired educationist, Writer’s E-mail: [email protected]
