Know more
about Kwan Pa

Kwan Pa is a thriving and very dynamic indigenous band in Ghana that performs and promotes indigenous music of Africa in various forms. Kwan Pa believes in the assertion that Africa has a very rich music culture which is worth flaunting to the world. We believe that African music is never outdated or perhaps irrelevant as some people may perceive it to be. To fully understand what we do as African musicians, a brief background of our music and performance will be explained.

African music has a 'life' of its own and exhumes a certain kind of freshness when performed. The volumes of emotional and aesthetic expressions of this kind of music are simply overwhelming. When it comes to musical instruments, African music could be performed using indigenous musical instruments or western musical instruments, or better still, a combination of both. The Hornbostel-Sache classification of musical instruments puts musical instruments into four (4) major classes:

1. Chordophones
2. Aerophones
3. Membranophones
4. Idiophones

Fortunately, Africa can boast of an array of musical instruments designed and made in various parts of Africa to aid in our music performances. Some of these instruments include the Seprewa of West Africa, the Kora of the Gambia (and other parts of Africa), the Mbira of Zimbabwe-Southern Africa, the shekere of West Africa, the Djembe of the people of Mali (and other parts of Africa) and the Atenteben of Ghana, west Africa, among others. All these instruments could be classified under one of these categories; for instance, the Seperewa is a chordophone, the Mbira is an Idiophone, the Shekere is an Idiophone, the Atenteben is an aerophone, the Kora is a chordophone and the djembe is a membranophone. All these instruments are used to enhance and expand our music performances as Africans.

In addition to musical instruments, there are various music styles and genres that emanated from Africa and exhume a kind of traditional flamboyance that can only be properly and appropriately experienced in their performance. Some of these African music styles and genres include Palm Wine music, Highlife, Soukous, juju, kwassa-kwassa, Maringa and a more recent genre largely accepted to have been created by Nigeria's Fela Kuti – Afrobeat, among others.

It is with this rich music heritage in mind that Kwan Pa seeks to explore some of these styles and present them in exciting performances to create a tranquil and entertaining ambience for people to come to terms with African music, and further enjoy it. This will, in turn, promote African music since the performances are not geographically limited but move from audience to audience.

Our Mission

To create and perform African music to various kinds of audiences for their pleasure and enjoyment (entertainment) and to use the platform as learning space for the audience to get acquainted with exciting experiences of African music; using various forms of both African and western musical instruments together with vocal dexterity.

Our Vision

Kwan Pa will become a household name, known as an active force in the renaissance of African music not just in Ghana but beyond the shores of Africa, transcending to the entire globe, when it comes to the creation and performance of excellent African Music.