Owura brings out ‘Abokobi’

To impress a young lady he met at Abokobi in the Greater Accra Region sometime back, he kept telling her he was a musician and concocted that impromptu song that came out when the lady asked him to prove his assertion.

Well, the young lady did not seem impressed with the ‘by force’ song  composed on the spot for her but the discerning music lovers who gathered at the +233 Jazz Bar and Grill in Accra recently were highly impressed when guitarist Owura K launched his new album titled Abokobi at the venue.

Owura K says the encounter with the lady at Abokobi stayed on his mind for a long time and that inspired the title  of the album that contains other songs such as Agro, African Unity, Do Me Preko and  National Anthem.

Backed by an efficient seven-piece band from Kumasi, Owura K, who has in the past played with artistes such as Becca, Kojo Antwi, Gyedu Blay Ambolley and Hugh Masekela, ran through some of the songs on the album and also did splendid cover versions of compositions by acts such as Angelique Kidjoe and R2Bees.

Owura K adores jazz and loves to play a lot of it but his flexibility on his instrument saw him do some groovy, danceable tracks that got a sizable portion of the patrons to happily dance at the outdoor event.

Perhaps aware that some very knowledgeable folks in the music business were also there to see him, Owura K did his best to exhibit the adventurous trait that has seen him being touted as the Carlos Santana of Ghana.

Some of the musicians in the audience at the Abokobi launch included Teddy Osei of Osibisa fame, flutist Dela Botri, singer/rapper Gyedu Blay Ambolley, drummer Ekow Alabi and pianist Victor Dey.

The CEO of EKB Records, Kiki Banson, was also there to grab some of the Abokobi flavour.

Owura K’s debut album, Just Imagine, came out on the Scratch Music label sometime ago.

Apart from Ghana, the enterprising guitar has  also plied his trade in places such as Algeria, Libya, Denmark, and South Africa.

Guest performers at the launch included  Wutah Afriyie, Apple, Afia Afriyie and Becca.