Six African Americans are in the country to perform at the first Ghana Heritage Jazz Festival, which would take place on the 27th and 28th of this month in Accra and Cape Coast towards charity
A press conference was held yesterday in Accra for the media to interact with the musicians - Mike Phillips, Freddie Jackson, Angela Bofill, Marcus Johnson, Sy Smith, and Rhian Benson. Ghanaian musicians who will perform at the festival are Jimmy Beckley, Rex Omar, Joe Beecham, Amanzeba Nat Brew and the Winneba Youth Choir. KSM will also perform.
Nana Opoku, CEO of African Media Core, organisers of the festival, welcomed the musicians from America and said "the festival is intended to bring African countries together in Ghana, the land of peace, love and forgiveness".
He said the festival is an initiative of the Okyehene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, as a way of celebrating black life. He said the festival would be held each year and will climax with a durbar to showcase what Africa has got.
Nana Opoku said the festival is also an investment drive that would put Ghana on the map and showcase the potentials in the country.
Jimmy Beckley, a jazz musician on behalf of the Ghanaian musicians said, "Ghanaians have been starved so long of jazz music". He thanked the musicians for coming to the Ghana to do a show for charity.
Mike Phillips said that the festival is an initiative for African Americans to help charity in their homeland. "Being home, we need to build infrastructure that can empower our people and move them forward economically."
He said the slaves that were taken to America did not forget their African songs. "You can take us but you cannot take our songs," he said.
Money raised from the festival would be donated to the Cape Coast Castle Museum and the Okyehene's AIDS Awareness and Environmental programmes.
