Cover Story
Ghana
After that performance Jojo
said she knew she had to
take full control of her career.
She would decide when,
where, and for how much
she would perform. This
would mean finding a venue,
making arrangements with
the managers, finding the
band, arranging, the music
decorating the space, stage
direction, writing the songs,
promoting the event, and
after all that get on stage
and perform So for several
months she organised gigs in
the underground music scene
and worked with Accra Dot
Alt, who are alternative art
curators.
When Jojo decided that her
three months vacation was
going to be permanent, she
felt that here in Ghana was
where she would take singing
seriously. The local musicians
she met could translate the
rhythms she heard in her head
into sound. They played it so
well that this inspired new
material. Armed and excited
about her music she began
to explore the possibility of
singing in Accra. For a while
she felt no one wanted to give
her a chance. After all she
didn’t have a manager. They
didn’t know her. She was
just another returnee woman
trying to get on the mic.
“When I started out they
didn’t want to let me play”,
she explains. And those who
would let her perform would
want her to play for free. But
40 GOWOMAN SEPTEMBER|2013
making music isn’t cheap.
Aside from the voice, you
need to have the funds to put
together a band and pay for a
place to practice. Bass players
cost money. Pianists cost
money. Music costs money.
Money that Jojo did not have
to start off with but she didn’t
give up. She kept knocking
on doors and asking for a
chance.
Eventually she got lucky.
Jojo was introduced to Offie
Kodjoe, a renowned and
seasoned jazz talent in the
music scene and Offie took
Jojo under her wing. One
night at Taverna Tropicana,
a restaurant and live music
venue, Offie dragged Jojo
on stage. They performed
together and this was Jojo’s
first significant break.
In May 2012, less than a
year after her decision to
stay back in Ghana, Jojo
was live in concert at the
Alliance Francaise. It was her
first major performance. She
decided then that this will be
a yearly event. The plan was
to start each new year off
planning and prepping for a
big concert that would happen
in May. And just like that,
Jojo had created and taken
control of her own situation.
One year later and she was
back on the same stage with
her band the Phunky Phew,
and her mentor Offie. And
this time she brought along
the afrobeat legend Blay
Ambolley. The show kicked off
to a nice and slow start with
smooth jazz and rhythm and
blues. And from the very start,
Jojo let her audience know
that she wanted them to join
in. By the middle of the set
the music had turned into an
afrobeat explosion. Jojo sang
several original compositions
in her native Ewe, introduced
traditional drumming, and
she brought her mother on
stage to play with her.
Dressed in a burnt orange
wrapper held in place by thick
waist beads, she danced, she
sang, and she told stories
of love, protest and longing.
Barefooted, facing a crowd
of Accra’s local art lovers
and expatriates, she gave her
all on stage. Even though
she confessed that she isn't
a good dancer, she had no
problems moving to the beat.
Her svelte arms, and back,
and hips, moved graciously.
She connected with her
audience. When she wanted
them to scream they did.
When she commanded them
to dance, they jumped over
the benches and swarmed to
the front of the stage.
There are many talented
women in the music scene
in Accra but Jojo stands
apart because she is intent
on bringing the traditional
sounds of the Volta Region
into her music. She confesses
that she has no training in
either modern or traditional
music. What you hear are the
impressions of her mother
and her grandmother’s love of
that old time music that have
been etched on her.
Every Sunday after church
when Jojo was under 8 years
old her mother would take
her to an arts club and they
would dance and perform all
day. Those rhythms from her
childhood are what she says
she invokes in her music. She
doesn’