Friday, January 12 at 7:30
$18 General, $16 Students/Seniors/Child, $9 UHH Pass
OBO ADDY
With Kukrudu and Okropong
Obo Addy, world renowned master drummer of the Ga people leads a company
of drummers and dancers in this performance based on the music of Ghana.
The program features both of Obo Addy's highly acclaimed groups, Okropong
and Kukrudu. Obo Addy has drawn from the rich heritage of Ghana to
create a show of great interest to American audiences. Percussion
instruments are used to recreate music that has been played for centuries.
The selections move through time to "highlife," a style which
paralleled swing, jazz, big band and later reggae. The lively finale
features the entire cast performing music which is now called "world
beat."
African
musical history comes to life when master drummer Obo Addy steps on stage.
As a prominent member of the first generation
of African musicians to bring their traditional and popular music to Europe
and America, this versatile magician of the drums embodies the
past, present and future of Ghana's musical
culture. An original and respected composer whose
music reaches far beyond the boundaries of his land of birth, Addy
has a twenty-year presence on the international performing arts
scene and has become known for his ability to celebrate past traditions
while expanding to embrace new ideas and foreign
influences. Internationally, Obo Addy's contribution can be measured by
the fact that he is one of the key originators of the seminal musical
movement now known as "Worldbeat."
Now living in the
United States, he has created two colorful performing
ensembles, each expressing one of the two closely related sides
of his musical personality; traditional and popular. Okropong
performs traditional Ghanaian music using a variety of hand and stick drums,
talking drums, bells and shakers. While the musicians
build layers of driving rhythms and singing, the female
dancers, clad in colorful West African garments, engage in an
energetic 'conversation' with the drummers and the audience. Kukrudu is
an eight piece ensemble of African and American musicians who perform
a rich synthesis of musical styles on Ghanaian percussion and
Western instruments including saxophone, trombone, guitar, electric
bass and drum kit.
"The audience is moved by awe and a desire to dance. The music was
electric!"
-Variety
"Their sounds of Africa shoot straight to the heart and through
the backbone into the feet."
-Lewiston Tribune
"Running the gamut from samba schools to James Brown, Addy's musical
walkabout is nothing less than thrilling." -The Beat Magazine
"Obo Addy's original music is some of the most interesting jazz
writing in the country today, combining the traditional polyrhythmic percussive
framework of Western Africa with the melodic and harmonic approach of North
American Jazz." -Willamette Week
"Obo Addy is a master drummer and it is the drum that is the heartbeat
of this music. Dancing, singing and talking to us, Obo's drums bubble with
energy." -Victory Review
"Obo Addy and Kukrudu brought with them an abundance of energy in
the exciting polyrhythmic sound of African highlife and other modern mixes
of American and African music. The audience was intoxicated by the performance.
An eye-opening, rejuvenating and happy event for all." -Colorado
College
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RETURN HOME, 1995-96
PERFORMING ARTS SEASON, CHRONOLOGY