GhanaStar
  • News
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Music
No Result
View All Result
GhanaStar
  • News
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Music
No Result
View All Result
GhanaStar
No Result
View All Result
Home Profiles

Complete Biography & Profile of James Acheampong,

August 6, 2016
in Profiles
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

James Acheampong, 42, is one in a long line of royal drum-makers. The smell, the feel of newly carved cordia wood and the steady, driving rhythm of drums shaped his childhood. Sculpting richly detailed wood creations is his passion, he said, there was never another path in life. ”I love it,” he said. ”It is part of me.”

You Might Also Like

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo All You Need to Know His Life and Journey to the Presidency

Complete Biography & Profile of Ebaahi Sounds,

Complete Biography & Profile of Rev Yawson,

An equally spirited performer, Acheampong is a drummer and dancer in the tradition of his mother, grandfather and great-grandfather before him.

”You can’t be a good carver if you don’t know anything about drumming,” he said while demonstrating the playing technique for a handful of onlookers, including Donna Honigman of Bethlehem, an animal therapist and music lover. The intensity of the drums she described as ‘’spiritual.”

”It shakes your soul,” she said. ”The drum is the heartbeat of music.”

Every drum has a different sound, said Acheampong. The deeper, richer-sounding drums are considered male, and the higher-pitched ones female. In the hands of a skillful drummer, their booming sound proved an efficient means of communication between villages long before the telephone.

The king would dispatch drummers to telegraph messages to elders in outlying villages, said Acheampong. Both wars and great celebrations were announced with drums.

For years, his family drum-making business catered exclusively to Ghana’s elite, its kings and chiefs, each with their signature design, he said. Now, Acheampong’s creations are spread across the globe, most of them carved in a studio back home in Ghana with the help of a cadre of students at the Centre for National Culture in the city of Kumasi.

Drums for the king are sculpted exclusively by Acheampong, not his students. One of his creations includes a 5-foot, carved drum with gold inlay and other finery, he said.

As often as twice a year Acheampong sets up shop at art and music festivals in the United States, where he draws inspiration from other artists. This year, after spending time at a jazz festival in New Orleans, he landed at Musikfest.

Along with his assistant and student of nine years, Kofi Atta, 36, Acheampong brings a small sampling of tools — some of which have been in his family for generations — including a machete and a hand-crafted adze for smoothing rough-cut wood.

Some of his creations – which take as little as a week or as long as a year to complete — are on display under a white tent where he and Atta toil, unperturbed by the heat, surrounded by piles of feathery wood chips. Their work quickly caught the attention of another Musikfest drum-maker, Conrad Kubiak.

Kubiak, whose work is displayed on this year’s Musikfest poster, said Acheampong’s drums are ”underpriced” and prohibitively labor-intensive with hand-cast metal fittings — a practice that he said is unheard of in the United States, where labor is expensive.

”I’d have to charge $20,000 for a drum like that,” said Kubiak of Wrightstown Township in Bucks County.

Acheampong’s work ranges in price from about $20 for small, wooden sculptures to $2,500 for some drums, his assistant said.

Acheampong will host a workshop for children on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Handwerkplatz, where he will demonstrate carving, drumming and dancing. He enjoys teaching. His own four children, raised in what Acheampong calls ”the computer age,” occasionally come to his studio to watch their father. He wonders if any will follow in his footsteps.

If they chose another path, Acheampong would be the last in a line of master drum-makers dating back more than 300 years. He isn’t troubled by the notion. His students at the Centre for National Culture will bear the torch.

The tradition, he said, would merely pass ”from one family to another.”

Tags: alongJames Acheampong,studentsyear

Related News

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo All You Need to Know His Life and Journey to the Presidency

by
January 7, 2017
0

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was brought up in Accra Central and in the Nima area of Accra. Nana Akufo-Addo was...

Complete Biography & Profile of Ebaahi Sounds,

by
August 6, 2016
0

Ebaahi Sounds, is a traditional music and dance group based in Accra. They recently digitised their latest album Naa Daniowie,...

Complete Biography & Profile of Rev Yawson,

by
August 6, 2016
0

Reverend Yawson is an International Songwriter, Worship Leader, Bible School and Seminar lecturer in praise and worship. He is also...

Complete Biography & Profile of King David,

by
August 6, 2016
0

David Kotey Neequaye aka King David sings very well in English, Ga and Twi. Born to the late Seth Amon...

Next Post

Complete Biography & Profile of No Tear,

Complete Biography & Profile of Pastor Kayode,

Categories

  • Africa & World
  • African Music Lyrics Directory
  • Business
  • Business Directory
  • celebrities
  • Computing
  • Diaspora
  • Entertainment
  • Events
  • Feature
  • Featured
  • Ghana Elections 2016
  • Headlines
  • Health
  • International
  • Internet
  • Jobs
  • lifestyle
  • Music
  • News
  • Offbeat
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Profiles
  • Religion
  • Security
  • Seth Terkper
  • Smart Home
  • Social Networks
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Top Stories
  • World News

Tags

accra addo africa Association football Banks - NEC business Business_Finance chairman Donald Trump economy education Entertainment_Culture environment Geography of Africa ghana Ghanaian people government Government of Ghana Human Interest John Dramani Mahama john mahama Law_Crime mahama minister MPs elected in the Ghanaian parliamentary election Nana Addo Nana Addo Dankwa Nana Akufo-Addo National Democratic Congress National Democratic Congress (NDC) New Patriotic Party New Patriotic Party (NPP) nigeria politics Politics of Ghana president Social Issues Social Media Social Media & Networking sports United Kingdom United Nations United States Vice President War_Conflict

Recent Posts

  • Government of Ghana Unveils Official Portraits of President John Dramani Mahama and Vice President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang
  • Who Is the Woman (Sheena Gakpe) in Sarkodie’s Latest Hit “No Sir” and Why Everyone Is Talking about It
List of Ghana Holidays for 2020
Ghana Geocoding
Ghana Cedis Exchange API
Ghana Maps Service
Toyota Cars Auto Auction History
  • African Music Lyrics Directory
  • Business Directory
  • Diaspora
  • Top Stories

All rights reserved © 2021 GhanaStar.com

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Music

All rights reserved © 2021 GhanaStar.com