Rapidly developing talents keep popping up on the Ghana Jazz scene, and some of them will feature alongside older, established names when the +233 Jazz Bar and Grill in Accra hosts its 2026 International Jazz Day celebration on April 30.
Dubbed ‘The Ghana Jazz Experience,’ the programme will embrace the subtle rhythms and swinging melodies of Jazz as expressed by Gyedu Blay Ambolley and the Sekondi Band, GHJazz Collective, West Coast Ebusua, Ghana Jazz Orchestra and the Jazz Brothers.
+233 has marked International Jazz Day since 2012. The years after that significant takeoff have presented a wide array of artistes, both local and foreign, who have delighted fans in the nation’s capital with their shades of Jazz.
Out of the five acts on this year’s bill, the audience will welcome two of them: the Jazz Brothers and the Ghana Jazz Orchestra, to the +233 stage for the first time at the annual bash.
Both entities were started only this year and are eagerly looking forward to the April 30 concert.
The Jazz Brothers currently comprises Bismark Sarpong (drums), Hidenori Matsuo (bass), Elvis Black (trumpet), Ike Ador (piano) and Seth Kendrick (tenor saxophone).
Some Jazz lovers have already seen them perform at the Coltrane and Soho Jazz clubs in Accra and hope to catch them in good form again at the International Jazz Day event.
Over time, the instrumental palette of Jazz has changed very little. Trumpets, trombones, saxophones and the rhythm instruments – piano, guitar, bass, drums – remain dominant.
The 15-piece Ghana Jazz Orchestra also relies on that range of instrumentation, and the audience would be keen to hear what interesting rhythms and harmonies they can draw out of their tools.
Gyedu Blay Ambolley, West Coast Ebusua Band and the GHJazz Collective are fairly familiar fare at +233.
Everyone who makes it to the concert would definitely love to hear them demonstrate good musicianship again on the day Jazz is heartily celebrated around the world.
