Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Obo Addy
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{Short description|Ghanaian musician (1936β2012)}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians --> | name = Obo Addy | image = Obo Addy.jpg | caption = Addy in 2009 | image_size = 250px | background = non_vocal_instrumentalist | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = January 15, 1936 | birth_place = [[Accra]], Ghana | death_date = {{death date and age|2012|9|13|1936|1|15}} | death_place = [[Portland, Oregon]], U.S. | origin = | instrument = Drum | genre = [[Worldbeat]] | occupation = Musician, dancer, professor | years_active = 1969–2012 | label = | associated_acts = | website = }} '''Obo Addy''' (January 15, 1936 – September 13, 2012) was a Ghanaian drummer and dancer who was one of the first native [[African music|African musicians]] to bring the fusion of traditional [[folk music]] and [[Western culture|Western]] [[pop music]] known as ''[[worldbeat]]'' to Europe and then to the [[Pacific Northwest]] of the United States in the late 1970s. He taught music at [[Lewis & Clark College]] in [[Portland, Oregon]].<ref name="nhf">{{cite web|url=https://arts.gov/honors/heritage/obo-addy |title=Obo Addy: Ghanaian-American Drummer |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=n.d. |website=Arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=February 25, 2024}}</ref> == Biography == Addy was born into the [[Ga (people)|Ga]] ethnic group in [[Accra]], the capital city of Ghana. He was one of the 55 children of Jacob Kpani Addy, a ''wonche'' or [[medicine man]] who integrated [[rhythm]]ic music into healing and other [[ritual]]s. Obo Addy's earliest musical influence was the traditional music of the Ga people, but he was also influenced as an adolescent by [[popular music]] from Europe and the United States, and performed in local bands that played Westernized music and the [[dance music|dance]] [[music of Ghana]] known as [[highlife]].<ref name="Baer">{{cite news|title=Obo Addy Loses Battle With Liver Cancer|url=http://www.opb.org/news/article/obo-addy-loses-battle-with-liver-cancer/ |last=Baer |first=April |publisher=[[Oregon Public Broadcasting]]|date=September 13, 2012 |access-date=January 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120916210229/http://www.opb.org/news/article/obo-addy-loses-battle-with-liver-cancer/ |archive-date=September 16, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Kronos Quartet]] commissioned a string quartet from Addy for their 1992 album ''[[Pieces of Africa]]''. Addy was employed by the Arts Council of Ghana in 1969, and played his native Ga traditional music in the [[1972 Summer Olympics]] in [[Munich]], Germany. He moved to [[London]], England, and began touring in Europe. In 1978, he moved to [[Portland, Oregon]] in the United States, where he taught at Lewis & Clark College. He also led weekly drumming workshops at Portland's [[Lincoln High School (Portland, Oregon)|Lincoln High School]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Obo Addy (1936-2012) |url=https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/addy_obo_1936_2012/ |last=Larson |first=Zeb |access-date=February 25, 2024 |website=Oregon Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref> In 1989, he founded the [[Homowo]] African Arts and Cultures organization, a non-profit which sponsors the annual Homowo Festival of African Arts in Oregon.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wyden |first=Ron |date=2000 |title=Portland's Homowo Festival |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/loc.afc.afc-legacies.200002932/ |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=lcweb2.loc.gov}}</ref> The organization was later renamed as the Obo Addy Legacy Project.<ref name="Baer"/> After a long battle with liver cancer, Addy died on September 13, 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last=Singer|first=Matthew|title=Obo Addy Has Passed Away|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-29179-obo_addy_has_passed_away.html|newspaper=[[Willamette Week]]|date=September 13, 2012|access-date=January 1, 2013}}</ref><ref name="obit">{{Cite web |title=In memoriam: Obo Addy |url=https://drummerszone.com/news/in-memoriam-obo-addy/artist-news-1-11038/article/ |access-date=July 22, 2023 |website=Drummerszone}}</ref> == Awards and honors == He was awarded a Master's Fellowship from the [[Oregon Arts Commission]] and Regional Arts & Culture Council, and the Oregon Governors Award for the Arts.<ref name="Baer"/> In 1996, he became the first native African<ref>{{Cite web|title=Celebrating Traditional Music With Obo Addy|url=https://www.ghanashowbiz.com/celebrating-traditional-music-with-obo-addy/|last1=O|first1=Monica|date=2015-05-08|website=GhanaShowBiz.comβ’|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-24}}</ref> to win a [[National Heritage Fellowship]] from the [[National Endowment for the Arts]], which is the highest honor in the folk and traditional arts in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1996|title=NEA National Heritage Fellowships 1996 |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=www.arts.gov |publisher=National Endowment for the Arts |access-date=December 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519210352/https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/year/1996 |archive-date=May 19, 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="obit" /> == Recent albums == * ''AfieyeOkropong'' ([[Alula Records]]) * ''Wonche Bi'' (Alula Records) * ''Let Me Play My Drums'' ([[Burnside Records]]) * ''The Rhythm Of Which A Chief Walks Gracefully'' ([[Earthbeat Records]]) * ''Okropong'' ([[Santrofi Records]]) == References == {{reflist|30em}} == External links == *{{IMDb name|id=1803935}} * [http://oboaddy.com/ Obo Addy: Master Drummer home page] * "[http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=3666 Addy vs. Addy]". Zach Dundas. ''Willamette Week Online''. February 26, 2003. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20041225175204/http://www.lclark.edu/dept/music/addy.html Obo Addy page] from Lewis & Clark College site *[https://worldmusiccentral.org/2018/06/20/artist-profiles-obo-addy/ Obo Addy profile at World Music Central] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20080517134947/http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20041223172826502 Article about Addy family] *[http://www.opb.org/television/programs/artbeat/segment/drummer-obo-addy/ Oregon Art Beat: Drummer Obo Addy] {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Addy, Obo}} [[Category:1936 births]] [[Category:2012 deaths]] [[Category:Ghanaian drummers]] [[Category:Ghanaian dancers]] [[Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners]] [[Category:Lewis & Clark College faculty]] [[Category:Musicians from Portland, Oregon]] [[Category:Musicians from Accra]] [[Category:Ga-Adangbe people]]
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page
(
help
)
:
Template:Authority control
(
edit
)
Template:Cite news
(
edit
)
Template:Cite web
(
edit
)
Template:EditAtWikidata
(
edit
)
Template:First word
(
edit
)
Template:IMDb name
(
edit
)
Template:Infobox musical artist
(
edit
)
Template:Main other
(
edit
)
Template:PAGENAMEBASE
(
edit
)
Template:Preview warning
(
edit
)
Template:Reflist
(
edit
)
Template:Short description
(
edit
)
Template:Trim
(
edit
)