Video: Alfred Kari Bannerman doubts he would excel in Ghana

Renowned Ghanaian guitarist Alfred Kari Bannerman believes he wouldn’t have been as successful as he is now in music if he had pursued his career in Ghana.

Alfred Kari Bannerman, who holds an impressive CV of performing with bands such as Osibisa as well as music heavyweights like the late Hugh Masekela, the late E.T Mensah, Ronnie Laws, among others, says Ghana wouldn’t have been an enabling environment for his music growth. 

He started playing with local bands such as the super-talented Boombaya, before moving to the United Kingdom in the 1970s.

Mr Bannerman’s career took off in the United Kingdom, with his superlative skills gaining him recognition as one of Europe’s finest Afro-guitarists.

Asked if he thought he would have been this successful if he had stayed in Ghana, the guitarist told Doreen Andoh on the Cosmopolitan Mix on Joy FM that it was unlikely. 

“It’s unlikely the way I look at things. I tend to look at things in a very global sense anyway and I think I would have built up with a little of friction between me wanting to do things abroad and staying here to be successful,” he said.

Mr Bannerman believes that it would have been a different story “if we had an industry - West Africa wide or Africa wide - where like in the [United] States, musicians can tour from the East Coast to the West and back again and they are done for the year, but we don’t have that kind of infrastructure here…”

The guitarist was hopeful “that will happen over time where there is a Trans-African,” system or route where musicians from Ghana can work and tour other African countries with ease.

He, whoever, stressed that “If you are thinking your outlook is more international then you would tend to leave these shores…” to make it. 

 

Read Full Story