Come December 27, 2013 a grand concert will be held at the National
Theatre to celebrate the 50th anniversary of veteran musician,
Nana Kwame Ampadu I and his African Brothers International Band.
This came to light at a brief but impressive anniversary launch held at
the Alisa Hotel in Accra recently, which brought together family and
friends of Nana Kwame Ampadu I as well as sponsors of the concert and
members of the media.
Sitting in for Mr Kwame Ofosu Bamfo (Sikkens) who was chairman for the
anniversary celebration, Mr George Oko Kweitsu of Dangbe Rural Bank
urged Ghanaians to support Nana Ampadu in every way that they can to
ensure a successful celebration.
“Nana Kwame Ampadu started his musical career ages ago when I was not
even born and till date, he is still going strong,” he said.
Mr Kweitsu tasked individuals and corporate Ghana to come together and
give this living legend a befitting celebration and not wait for him to
die before organising a befitting burial as is typical of Ghanaians.
The Managing Director of Katamadara Concepts, Emma Boakye, whose outfit
is organising the concert said they are leaving no stone unturned to
ensure a highly successful event.
“It is a great honour to organise the 50th anniversary concert of Nana
Kwame Ampadu and his band. He is indeed a living legend and has come a
long way and we are proud to be associated with him,” she said. On
behalf of the Musicians Union of Ghana, (MUSIGA), Kaakyire Kwame Appiah
congratulated Nana Kwame Ampadu and assured him of the Union’s support
at his concert.
There were solidarity messages from some sponsors including Vitamilk
and Star Beer. They promised their unflinching love and support for Nana
Ampadu and called on others to also come on board.
When he took over the microphone from David Dontoh, MC for the launch,
Nana Ampadu sent everyone laughing, interlacing his brief speech with
humour.
He said though many people may think he is too old to perform, he will
surprise everyone on December 27, “I still have a lot of energy and you
will all see that on the D-day.”
Nana Ampadu, who has over 800 songs to his credit, promised to release a
four-track album on the night of the concert, songs that will change
the mindset of Ghanaians, “you will hear it for the first time at the
concert and I know you will love it,” he said.
Director for the upcoming concert, Osmo Nana Kwame Addo told Showbiz
after the launch that it will be one great concert, something Ghanaians
haven’t seen in a long while.
“Nana Ampadu is a huge figure in the local music industry and we intend
to celebrate him in a grand style, 50 years in the industry is no
child’s play and we will give patrons to the concert a time of their
lives”, he said.
