Koo Nimo

In 1990 eight of Koo Nimo's songs were released as Osabarima, the first CD by a Ghanaian artist. By then he had been playing Ashanti palm-wine guitar music for more than three decades.

Background

He was born Kwabena Boa-Amponsem at Foase in the Atwima area of Ashanti on 27 January 1931 and baptised Daniel Amponsah. For much of his life he worked in science and medical jobs while keeping up his music. He first won national fame around independence in 1957 with his group Addadam Agofomma.

Music

His songs, sung in Twi, tell traditional stories over one or two guitars and the instruments of the palm-wine ensemble: apentemma and donno drums, the frikyiwa, the prempensua and bells. In 1992 the ethnomusicologist Andrew Kaye earned a Columbia doctorate with a dissertation on Koo Nimo and his circle. From 1998 he taught ethnomusicology at the University of Washington and then the University of Michigan, before returning to Kumasi in 2006. In 2007 he appeared on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations.

Honours

He was president of the Musicians Union of Ghana from 1979 and interim chairman of the copyright society COSGA in 1985. He received the government's gold medal for distinguished citizens in 1997 and a lifetime achievement award at the 2022 Ghana Music Awards.