Singer/saxophonist Asabea Cropper was her usual majestic self, decked in the characteristic colourful kente outfit when she walked onto the stage last Saturday, July 27 at Alliance Francaise in Accra.

She was not oblivious to the many admiring eyes locked on her ‘Kilimanjaro’ headgear but what appeared foremost on her heart at that moment was that older artistes should support younger ones to bloom and she said so before lunging into her first song.

Accompanied by her brother, Eugene, on bass and the six-piece Ananse band, Asabea was the special guest at singer, SSUE’s Signature Concert.

Asabea perfomed with her brother, Eugene

Asabea had, on other occasions, expressed delight at seeing emerging talents grow in confidence to thrill audiences and wished them well. So she was in character when she clearly stated she and her brother were there primarily to shore up SSUE’s show.

“We are here tonight to support our beautiful daughter, SSSUE. She is brilliant, smart and hard working. She’s got a bright future,” the woman widely referred to as the Queen of Highlife said with some excitement in her voice.

She was on stage for 25 minutes and played some of her known tracks such as ‘Torwia’ and ‘Inamosi’, finishing off with the ever-popular ‘Wamaya.’ She’s played with her brother for decades and the synergy between them was evident.

The Signature Concert was the latest of SSUE’s shows to remind the music-loving public of her strong presence as a live performer.

SSUE

It’s a little over a year now since she jumped onto the live circuit and has so far proved her resolve for the long haul.

Before she came on for her 90-minute set, singer Imma Emmanuel delighted the urbane audience with a mix of his own and cover versions of some popular material. He did a good job of communicating with the audience and that greatly helped his set.

Imma Emmanuel

SSUE arrived on stage as a traditional queen with her courtiers in tow. She recently developed some well-choreographed movements with the National Dance Company and the positive effect of that was noticeable throughout her time on stage.

SSUE arrives on stage

She offered some of her songs like ‘Commotion’, Fire Fire Fire’ and ‘Hypnotize’ and danced a lot more than at previous shows, confidently integrating traditional steps such as Adowa, Agbadza and Bamaya.

National Dance Company supported SSUE

A sprightly HipHop set with rapper, Ian Jazzy, followed as they rocked with tracks she had written such as ‘Don’t Talk’, ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ and ‘I’m Straight.’

SSUE, Imma Emmanuel and rapper, Ian Jazzy

Ballads with Imma Emmanuel is an expected fare at a SSUE show and they did original tracks as well as some classic love songs. A section of the audience, touched by the renditions, sang along with them to close the show.

A section of the audience

SSUE amply demonstrated she was capable of climbing some notches higher at every show.

The Ananse Band, led on keyboards by Obed Boakye and with Samuel ‘Sammix’ Apau on guitar, backed all the acts.

It showed itself as a competent group at the very entertaining Signature Concert put together by Scratch Studios headed by Kofi Amoakohene.

SSUE, Eugene and Asabea Cropper

SSUE and Imma Emmanuel

 

Exciting time for the performers

Imma Emmanuel with guitarist , Sammix

SSUE and 'military' dancers

Dancers