They have been away from the live music scene for a while but singer/saxophonist Queen Asabia and her bassist brother, Kenteman proved they still have what it takes to thoroughly entertain an audience when they performed at the World Highlife Day concert on March 15 at the Goethe Institut in Accra.

Clad as usual in one of their Kente outfits, the duo were extremely mobile on stage as they dished out well-known Queen Asabia recorded pieces like  ‘Towia’, ‘Love You So Much’, and ‘Womaya’.

Read also: Positioning of Highlife affecting artistes’ association with genre – Okraku-Mantey

Backed by Akablay & The Abiza Band, the pair got a section of the audience dancing and singing along before ending their session with a medley of popular highlife songs.

Experienced hands at live renditions, Kenteman slapped and pulled the strings on his guitar while the Queen also displayed finger dexterity on her horn as they jumped and danced on stage.   

Kenteman writes the music, arranges, and produces the songs sung by Queen Asabia. They were part of the Tema-based Sweet Talks and Black Hustlers bands some time back and have since gone on to perform together for decades in many places around the world. 

The pair have at various times been honoured by Heads of State and Presidents such as Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, Felix Houphouet Boigny and Henri Konan Bedie of Cote d’Ivoire, Jerry John Rawlings of Ghana, and Barrack Obama of the United States of America.

In Cote d’Ivoire where Queen Asabia and Kenteman lived and worked for a while and made admirable fashion statements with kente, the cloth gained wide usage and became known as  ‘Pagne du Asabia’ or ‘Asabia’s cloth.’

“We are glad we played a part in marking World Highlife Day this year. So many great musicians have contributed to bring it this far and we know it will continue to catch attention across the globe.

“We are back and more appearances will be announced. Highlife is wonderful music. It is one of Ghana’s treasured identities and we all need to proudly uphold it,” the duo pointed out.

Read also: John Collins explains why Ghanaian musicians are ditching “highlife”

Other acts at the World Highlife Day bash in Accra included Abiana, Della Hayes and her Women of Colour Band, guitarist Nicolai Tobiesen from Denmark, and Akablay & The Abiza Band.

It was a long-cherished dream of Ghanaian guitarist, Akablay to make the world pay attention to Highlife on a specific day, as it does for other genres like Jazz (April 30) and Reggae (July 1). He decided March 7 could be appropriate and the initial commemoration took place at the +233 Jazz Bar and Grill in Accra in 2020.

This year, the Accra celebration was preceded by one in Kumasi on March 7.