Guy Warren
Guy Warren (born May 4, 1923 in Accra as Warren Gamaliel Akwei , † December 22, 2008 ) was a Ghanaian musician and one of the earliest representatives of Afro- Jazz . He went to the USA as Guy Warren (of Ghana) , since 1970 he called himself Kofi Ghanaba .
Live and act
Warren was born in 1923 in what was then the British colony of Gold Coast . As a child he learned to play the traditional Ghanaian drums. At the age of fourteen he became the drummer of the Accra Rhythmic Orchestra , with which he first came to the USA in 1939. In 1947 he became a member of the Tempos Band of ET Mensah , in 1948 he performed with Kenny Grahams Afro-Cubists in England.
After working as a radio disc jockey in Nigeria and Liberia , he moved to the USA in 1953, where he recorded a number of albums in Chicago and worked with musicians such as Thelonious Monk and Max Roach . A concert with Charlie Parker never took place in 1955. In 1962 he published an autobiography.
In 1965 Warren returned to Ghana as a celebrated celebrity - he received the honorary title Odomankoma Kyrema (the "divine drummer"), which is awarded to only one person at a time. There he turned to Buddhism and called himself Kofi Ghanaba (son of Ghana) since 1970 . He only appeared occasionally - for example at the Soul To Soul concerts - and worked as a teacher. In 2001 he returned to the international public as a stage musician in a musical about the life of Yaa Asantewaa .
The documentary film The Divine Drummer (2001) by Klaus Voswinckel describes an encounter between Warren and Robyn Schulkowsky in Ghana.
Discography
- 1957: Africa Speaks: America Answers! (Decca) with Red Saunders
- 1959: Themes for African Drums (RCA Victor)
- 1960: The African Soundz of Guy Warren of Ghana (Fiesta)
- 1961: The African Sounds (Regal Zonophone)
- 1962: African Rhythms: The Exciting Soundz of Guy Warren & His Talking Drums (Decca)
- 2002: The Divine Drummer (Retroafric)
Fonts
- I have a story to tell . Accra: New Guinea Press, 1962. (autobiography)
Lexical entries
- Ian Carr : Article Ghanaba . In: Ian Carr, Digby Fairweather , Brian Priestley : Rough Guide Jazz. The ultimate guide to jazz music. 1700 artists and bands from the beginning until today. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 1999, ISBN 3-476-01584-X .
Web links
- Obituary in The Independent
- Guy Warren at Allmusic (English)
- www.retroafric.com (English)
- www.ghanaweb.com (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Warren, guy |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Warren Gamaliel Akwei; Ghanaba, Kofi |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Ghanaian jazz percussionist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 4, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Accra |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 22, 2008 |