Dr. Isabella Effon (left) presenting the plaque to Wazumbi
The Wazumbians band is still in the United States spreading its Afrocentric music, and it has been honoured at the 6th Annual African World Peace Festival (AWPF) in the State of North Carolina.
The band was honoured for the wonderful music it brought to arts and culture adherents in North Carolina and for its valuable support for this year’s AWPF. Dr. Isabella Effon, president of the AWPF, presented a plaque to the band which was received by its leader, Francis Chapman Abban-Hagan, better known as Wazumbi.
The AWPF is structured to bring people together as a community to celebrate all cultures, with an emphasis on Africa through music, dance, food, art exhibitions and more. This year’s event was held from September 9 to 11 in Cool Spring Downtown District. The Wazumbians were prominent throughout the festival.
An online news portal in North Carolina, revitalatinac.com, said the Wazumbians re-echoed the exciting Ghanaian group,Osibisa, famous for their pioneering Afro-rock music which was highly loved around the world.
“With musical directions from long-experienced producer Wazumbi, the band of long-serving musicians is a spicy mix of catchy tunes served with ornamented rhythmic grooves steeped in African traditions into one soul-satisfying broth,” the news outlet said about the Wazumbians.
The band’s leader said they were grateful to Dr. Isabella Effon and the Mayor of North Carolina, Mitch Colvin for the honour. He also expressed appreciation to Ghanaian music producer and recording engineer, PanjiAnoff, for linking them to the festival.
The Wazumbians arrived in the United States in the middle of July this year. They have played gigs in New York, Philadelphia, Idaho, Virginia and North Carolina. The band is likely to go to Canada and Denmark after the United States tour before returning to Ghana.
According to Wazumbi, exposure on the American live scene has brought some potentially useful opportunities their way and they are poised to grab them.