A new album by atenteben dynamo, Dela Botri, that attempts to revive
the rich music traditions of the Ga people will be launched at the
Goethe- Institut in Accra tonight.

Titled Santrofi, the album is a medley of re-arranged indigenous and recreational Ga tunes characterised by tremendous emotional power and a dramatic use of light percussive instruments.

Santrofi contains a variety of rhythms including Adowa and Kpanlogo and the album’s release has been targeted to herald the celebration of the annual Homowo festival of the chiefs and people of the Ga state.

With bells, rattles, atenteben flutes, kpanlogo drums, tamalin and amazing voices, Santrofi manages to showcase the hidden richness in the works of ancient Ghanaian composers while demonstrating the beauty of fusing traditional rhythms with their contemporary extensions.

Voices on Santrofi are captivating and have the ability to keep music lovers on the dance floor for a considerable length of time. Alongside the voices are cool, subtle and infectious rhythms that flow freely but consistently.

Though hailing from Keta in the Volta Region, Botri grew up in Accra and says he has a goog appreciation of Ga culture.

“I grew up in the part of Accra called Russia in the early 1970s and heard a lot of wonderful Ga traditional music,”
 
Botri told Showbiz. “That has been part of me ever since and I felt it was time to re-work some of them. They are beautiful, evocative pieces I want the whole world to hear.”

A pioneering member of the Pan African Orchestra (PAO) that created waves in Europe and the United States, Botri, participated in the recording of the orchestra’s Opus 1 album which topped the charts for several weeks on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label in the mid-1990s.

Botri, who is also the founder and leader of Hewale Sounds, an instrumental ensemble based at the W.E.B. Dubois Centre in Accra, has three other albums – Bakuye, Kaashegbeyee and Tabeyiriba to his credit.

He has held workshops at the Centre for Promotion of Musicians in Niamey, Niger, The University of Colorado, USA, Havana International Music Festival and served as a resource person at the World Music Village in Vakeela, Finland.

A devotee of traditional and contemporary Ghanaian music, Botri has toured several countries with Hewale Sounds.
 
 These include Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Guinea, Norway, Jordan, South Africa and the United States.

The German ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Dr. Marius Haas, the French ambassador H.E. Pierre Jacquemot, the Minister for Chieftaincy and Culture Hon. S.K. Boafo and Nii Kpobi Tettey Tsuru II, La Mantse will be present at the launch, which is being supported by the Goethe-Institut.