Tsooboi Ensemble
The Tsooboi Ensemble was in a triumphant mood as it took to the stage a fortnight ago in the studios of TV Africa in Accra to add some spice to the ongoing Naa Ga-Dangme beauty pageant.
The joy in their hearts, after winning the Traditional Music and Dance Group of the Year 2021 honour at the recently-held Ghana Entertainment and Business Industry Awards event, was translated into dexterity on their instruments as they sang and danced to the delight of all in the TV Africa studio.
Word had gone round that Tsooboi was a force to reckon with on the traditional music and dance front in the nation’s capital, and that prompted organisers of the Naa Ga-Dangme beauty pageant to invite them for fans and advocates of Ga-Dangme culture to see them live in action.
The Naa Ga-Dangme beauty pageant gives the opportunity to young, intelligent, eloquent and beautiful Ga-Dangme ladies between the ages of 18 and 28 to showcase the culture and traditions of the various Ga-Dangme communities.
“Our aim on the show was to prove that we identify with the objective of projecting Ga-Dangme culture so we offered repertoire that suited the occasion,” said the group’s leader, Alex Kofi Mensah.
“Though the group was formed at and is based at Teshie in Accra, we are cosmopolitan in nature because members come from all over the country and we play rhythms from across Ghana and beyond.”
A strong point about Tsooboi is the group’s ability to turn around popular Ghanaian traditional pieces and give them fresh flavour of their own. To them, no traditional rendition is too scarred to be given a new lease of life so Tsooboi loves to play around with all kinds of Ghanaian rhythms such as Kpanlogo, Adowa, Kolomashi, Agbadza, Bawa, Borborbor and more.
The group has also recorded its own tracks such as Mitor Mitor, Bamboree Jazz, Sane Eba, Ataa Oblanyo and Kayaluwa which demonstrate the expansive compositional skills of the members.
“We are versatile and that’s why we get invited to all sorts of programmes. Our job is to entertain and we always do our best to get the job done no matter the occasion,” said the group’s leader.
Pix caption: The Tsooboi Ensemble performing at the Naa Ga-Dangme show