Nii Afotey Botwe II (left), Chief of Nungua Otinor, congratulating Otu Laryea after the durbar
The booming sound of traditional drums filled the early afternoon air at the Junction Mall, Nungua in Accra on Saturday, August 31, 2024, as the Efeee Noko Cultural Troupe performed at a durbar to round off this year’s Homowo celebration of the chiefs and people of the Nungua Traditional Area.
Efeee Noko, formed in November 2019 and led by percussionist Richmond Otu Laryea, was chosen by the Nungua Homowo Planning Committee to play at the durbar due to its versatility and ability to deliver on big occasions.
Accompanied by bells, rattles and Atenteben flutes, the intricate rhythms from the troupe’s drummers fired up its dancers to execute movements that delighted everyone at the durbar.
“We’ve been genuine exponents of Ga-Dangme music since the band’s formation,” says the troupe’s leader Otu Laryea. “Homowo is an important celebration of the Ga-Dangme people. That was why we made the durbar arena vibrate to Ga-Dangme rhythms like Kpanlogo, Kpatsa, Kolomashi, Kple and Fume Fume.”
Otu Laryea is an expert on different types of traditional drums. He also plays the xylophone. Son of a drum maker; he encountered different sizes and types of drums at home while growing up, and he took to them early in life.
He was a member of the youthful Indigen Afrika group formed by the National Theatre and which toured the world in the mid-1990s with its catchy music played only on African instruments.
With his own 15-member Efeee Noko group, Otu Laryea has held on to the concept of rendering delightful music completely on African instruments.
The group’s percussion lineup which includes Fontomfrom, Dondo, Osrama, Kpanlogo and Gome drums, also enable it efficiently offer non-Ga-Dangme items like Adowa, Bamaya, Kete, Borborbor, Gahu and Takai.
Interestingly, Efeee Noko is one of the few bands in the country that incorporate conch shell sounds into their music. That unique move caught the eye of the current Ga Mantse, King Tackie TeikoTsuru II, who decided to make the group’s conch shell players part his entourage for special functions.
“The Ga Mantse is an illustrious traditional leader in Ghana. For him to notice us and add our conch shell players to his retinue is a big plus point for us,” states Otu Laryea.
The Efeee Noko leader also sees their inclusion in the 2023 edition of the ‘Our Music Festival’ at the Goethe-Institut in Accra as a feather in their cap.
The festival celebrated home-grown rhythms and the band felt proud to have shared stage with notable Ghanaian musicians like Pat Thomas, among others.
“We can only look forward to greater things with our Afro-centric music,” Otu Laryea added.
By George Clifford Owusu