'I Started Playing Drums At Age 3'

US-based Ghanaian drummer, Okyerema Asante, a celebrated traditional drummer, has declared that he has no plans of retiring from active music anytime soon.

Okyerema, a versatile singer, songwriter and producer, says his  interest in music dates back to his youth age when he began playing with friends until he was able to teach himself how to play traditional drums, adding that his formal musical training came at the age of 11.

The master drummer hinted that at the age of 11, he had the opportunity to perform for Queen Elizabeth II and the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah at Aburi somewhere in the 1960s.

He disclosed that he has been on three world tours, once with Paul Simon on the Graceland Tour and twice with the Fleet Wood Mac on the 'Behind The Mask And Tango In The Night Tours'.

Okyerema has toured Africa, Europe, Canada, United States, among others, and had performed on the same stage with some of the world's most celebrated artistes such as Miriam Makeba, Paul Simon, James Muddy, Jackie Maclean and a host of others.

According to him, because of his originality, his performances have left audiences raving and shouting for more.

Coming from a family of drummers, Okyerema Asante, who is an expert of traditional Ghanaian  talking drums , performed alongside Cuban-born piano virtuoso, Benito Gonzales, at a two-day Afro jazz music festival organised by Scratch Universal Entertainment in Accra and Kumasi a few weeks ago.

By George Clifford Owusu