Nii Osabu & Afro Boys Band create own groove
Rootsy acoustic guitar twangs accompanied by impassioned vocals, tastefully throbbing African drums and delicate flugel horn phrases are some of the ingredients that make the music of Nii Osabu and the Afro Boys Band delightful to hear.
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Relying on a repertoire that primarily embraces traditional rhythms from across Ghana and vibrant Highlife, the band pulls no punches as it unleashes compulsive dance rhythms with sound conviction whenever it takes to the stage.
“We all submerge ourselves into the music. That’s how come we comfortably handle different African musical styles and excite audiences with our equipment of Kpanlogo and Gome drums, flugelhorn, bell, rattle and guitar, ” Nii Osabu, who plays the guitar and is the lead singer and leader of the band, said.
Started in late 2018, the five-piece Afro Boys Band offers sprightly, Africa-themed music that often draws people to dance. The band’s songs are in Ga, Twi and English. The creative boldness it exhibits has earned it respect among fellow musicians, especially in the nation’s capital.
When the HMCS Glace Bay, a coastal defence vessel operated by the Royal Canadian Navy docked at Tema in February this year, the crew wanted to hear good Ghanaian music.
Somebody managed to get the Afro Boys Band over to entertain them. The Canadian Navy crew were captivated by what they heard and saw.
One of them said: “We just heard the Afro Boys Band put on a show for us and it was fantastic. The energy was great. They really brought Ghanaian music with them. It would be great to have them touring. If they could come over to Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and play in and around Europe as well, I think that would be fantastic.”
Audience reaction was similarly positive when the band played a virtual concert for the Senior Friendship Centres of Charlotte and DeSoto Counties in Florida, United States on April 14, 2023. The music went down well with the American listeners and the band has been booked for two more virtual performances in May 2023.
A mostly Ghanaian audience was thrilled when the band played at the second edition of its Arise Africa Concert at the National Theatre in December 2022. Started a year earlier, the concert brings together progressive, Afro-centric groups to showcase their stuff to discerning music lovers. Apart from the Afro Boys, the 2022 Arise Africa bash also featured the Makabo, Miishee, Abajo and Nii Buxton bands.
Some other events that have hosted the Afro Boys Band include the 2022 Chale Wote Festival in Accra and this year’s Asa Baako Festival at Busua in the Western Region. The band also provided the soundtrack last March for an American documentary film on Ghanaian beads shot at Krobo Odumase in the Eastern Region.
Nii Osabu is happy about the fact that apart from his band doing all it can to project Ghanaian and African music, the guitar he plays was completely made in Ghana.
He initially didn’t believe acoustic guitars were being moulded in this country and balked at the idea of getting one of them. He eventually decided to go in for one made to his specifications and has not regretted doing that.
The African musical tree has many branches and it’s not possible to climb each one. What the Afro Boys Band has set itself is to explore what it can do with the instruments it has chosen to create a strong brand easily recognisable on the continent and beyond.
