John Collins - Revision history

Edb: Add a sourced, licensed illustration with creator credit and license link

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Add a sourced, licensed illustration with creator credit and license link

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			<!-- MuGlobe licensed article image -->
			[[File:MuGlobe-02e9395d94841a28.jpg\|thumb\|right\|320px\|alt=Professor John Collins, the musician and highlife scholar, in Accra.\|Professor John Collins, the musician and highlife scholar, in Accra.<br />Image: [https://www.flickr.com/people/73542590@N00/ Jeremy Weate]. [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ CC BY 2.0]. [https://www.flickr.com/photos/73542590@N00/4231025140/ Source].]]

	== Summary ==		== Summary ==
	John Collins is a Ghanaian guitarist, harmonica player, percussionist and music historian originally from Britain. His performing, studio and archival work is closely associated with [[Highlife\|highlife]] and the wider Ghanaian popular-music scene.<ref name="collins-bapmaf">[https://bapmaf.home.blog/john-collins/ Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation: John Collins biography]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>		John Collins is a Ghanaian guitarist, harmonica player, percussionist and music historian originally from Britain. His performing, studio and archival work is closely associated with [[Highlife\|highlife]] and the wider Ghanaian popular-music scene.<ref name="collins-bapmaf">[https://bapmaf.home.blog/john-collins/ Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation: John Collins biography]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>

Edb: Artist encyclopedia batch009: preserve source wording and URLs while linking citation artist names; clarify two existing citations

2026-10-23T19:54:40Z

Artist encyclopedia batch009: preserve source wording and URLs while linking citation artist names; clarify two existing citations

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	== Music and style ==		== Music and style ==
	The Bokoor Band brought highlife into exchange with [[Afrobeat]] and rock. Guitar, Ghanaian percussion, call-and-response singing and prominent harmonica gave its recordings a distinctive ensemble texture. Collins's broader collaborations include [[Fela Kuti]], [[Koo Nimo]], [[Kwaa Mensah]] and [[Atongo Zimba]].<ref name="collins-bokoor">[https://www.womex.com/virtual/otrabanda_records/v_a/bokoor_beats Otrabanda Records: Bokoor Beats, label notes on WOMEX]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref><ref name="collins-review">[https://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/41211-bokoor-beats-vintage-afro-beat-afro-rock-and-elect/ ~~Banning Eyre~~: Bokoor Beats review, Boston Phoenix, 5 June 2007]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>		The Bokoor Band brought highlife into exchange with [[Afrobeat]] and rock. Guitar, Ghanaian percussion, call-and-response singing and prominent harmonica gave its recordings a distinctive ensemble texture. Collins's broader collaborations include [[Fela Kuti]], [[Koo Nimo]], [[Kwaa Mensah]] and [[Atongo Zimba]].<ref name="collins-bokoor">[https://www.womex.com/virtual/otrabanda_records/v_a/bokoor_beats Otrabanda Records: Bokoor Beats, label notes on WOMEX]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref><ref name="collins-review">[[Banning Eyre]][https://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/41211-bokoor-beats-vintage-afro-beat-afro-rock-and-elect/ : Bokoor Beats review, Boston Phoenix, 5 June 2007]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>

	== Works and performances ==		== Works and performances ==

Edb: Artist encyclopedia batch008: sourced musician/group profiles and incoming artist links, requested by Ed

2026-10-23T19:48:52Z

Artist encyclopedia batch008: sourced musician/group profiles and incoming artist links, requested by Ed

New page

== Summary ==
John Collins is a Ghanaian guitarist, harmonica player, percussionist and music historian originally from Britain. His performing, studio and archival work is closely associated with [[Highlife|highlife]] and the wider Ghanaian popular-music scene.<ref name="collins-bapmaf">[https://bapmaf.home.blog/john-collins/ Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation: John Collins biography]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>

== Life and career ==
His involvement with West African professional music dates from 1969. The Bokoor Band followed in the 1970s, while his Accra studio operated from 1982 through the late 1990s. He later combined university teaching with the Bokoor African Popular Music Archives Foundation, founded in 1990.<ref name="collins-bapmaf" />

== Music and style ==
The Bokoor Band brought highlife into exchange with [[Afrobeat]] and rock. Guitar, Ghanaian percussion, call-and-response singing and prominent harmonica gave its recordings a distinctive ensemble texture. Collins's broader collaborations include [[Fela Kuti]], [[Koo Nimo]], [[Kwaa Mensah]] and [[Atongo Zimba]].<ref name="collins-bokoor">[https://www.womex.com/virtual/otrabanda_records/v_a/bokoor_beats Otrabanda Records: Bokoor Beats, label notes on WOMEX]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref><ref name="collins-review">[https://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/41211-bokoor-beats-vintage-afro-beat-afro-rock-and-elect/ Banning Eyre: Bokoor Beats review, Boston Phoenix, 5 June 2007]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>

== Works and performances ==
''Bokoor Beats'' includes his band's recordings alongside other Ghanaian ensembles. ''Electric Highlife'', ''Vintage Palmwine'' and ''The Guitar and Gun'' present material from the wider studio history. He also co-led Local Dimension with Aaron Bebe Sukura; the group released ''N'Yong'' in 2003. His performance tours with [[Koo Nimo]] connect that recorded work with continuing collaboration on stage.<ref name="collins-bapmaf" />

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