Kwaa Mensah - Revision history

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← Older revision		Revision as of 22:09, 23 October 2026
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			<!-- MuGlobe licensed article image -->
			[[File:MuGlobe-1f4a72cf3089e79a.jpg\|thumb\|right\|320px\|alt=Kwaa Mensah with a guitar, 1947.\|Kwaa Mensah with a guitar, 1947.<br />Image: Photographer not named; J. Collins / BAPMAF Archives; J. Collins / BAPMAF Archives; Figure 1 in John Collins, The Introduction of Popular Music Courses to Ghanaian Universities, IASPM Journal 2(1-2), p.37. [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/ CC BY-NC-SA 4.0]. [https://iaspmjournal.net/index.php/IASPM_Journal/article/view/563 Source].]]

	== Summary ==		== Summary ==
	Kwaa Mensah (1920–1991) was a Ghanaian guitarist, singer and bandleader associated with [[Palm-wine music\|palm-wine music]], guitar-band [[Highlife\|highlife]] and concert party. His career linked coastal musical practice, touring entertainment and teaching.<ref name="kwaa-archive">[https://fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=2279 Ghana’s Highlife Music Collection: Kwaa Mensah, biography by] [[John Collins]]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>		Kwaa Mensah (1920–1991) was a Ghanaian guitarist, singer and bandleader associated with [[Palm-wine music\|palm-wine music]], guitar-band [[Highlife\|highlife]] and concert party. His career linked coastal musical practice, touring entertainment and teaching.<ref name="kwaa-archive">[https://fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=2279 Ghana’s Highlife Music Collection: Kwaa Mensah, biography by] [[John Collins]]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>

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2026-10-23T19:55:16Z

Artist encyclopedia batch010: preserve source wording and URLs while linking citation artist names; clarify two existing citations

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:55, 23 October 2026
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	== Summary ==		== Summary ==
	Kwaa Mensah (1920–1991) was a Ghanaian guitarist, singer and bandleader associated with [[Palm-wine music\|palm-wine music]], guitar-band [[Highlife\|highlife]] and concert party. His career linked coastal musical practice, touring entertainment and teaching.<ref name="kwaa-archive">[https://fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=2279 Ghana’s Highlife Music Collection: Kwaa Mensah, biography by John Collins]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>		Kwaa Mensah (1920–1991) was a Ghanaian guitarist, singer and bandleader associated with [[Palm-wine music\|palm-wine music]], guitar-band [[Highlife\|highlife]] and concert party. His career linked coastal musical practice, touring entertainment and teaching.<ref name="kwaa-archive">[https://fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=2279 Ghana’s Highlife Music Collection: Kwaa Mensah, biography by] [[John Collins]]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>

	== Life and career ==		== Life and career ==

Edb: Artist encyclopedia batch006: sourced musician/group profiles and incoming artist links, requested by Ed

2026-10-23T19:40:35Z

Artist encyclopedia batch006: sourced musician/group profiles and incoming artist links, requested by Ed

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== Summary ==
Kwaa Mensah (1920–1991) was a Ghanaian guitarist, singer and bandleader associated with [[Palm-wine music|palm-wine music]], guitar-band [[Highlife|highlife]] and concert party. His career linked coastal musical practice, touring entertainment and teaching.<ref name="kwaa-archive">[https://fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=2279 Ghana’s Highlife Music Collection: Kwaa Mensah, biography by John Collins]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>

== Life and career ==
Born in Lagos and raised in Cape Coast, he learned guitar from his uncle Jacob Sam, also known as Kwame Asare. Experience in adaha and konkoma ensembles preceded his own guitar band in 1950. Recording for HMV began in 1952. He later taught at the universities of Cape Coast and Legon.<ref name="kwaa-archive" />

== Music and style ==
His guitar playing belongs to the Ghanaian palm-wine lineage, whose development involved coastal exchanges and fingerstyle technique. In 1955 he followed [[E. K. Nyame]] in adding concert-party drama to his band's activities. The Fanti Trio brought song and theatrical performance to audiences beyond the most westernized urban circles.<ref name="kwaa-archive" /><ref name="kwaa-allmusic">[https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kwaa-mensah-mn0001009264 AllMusic: Kwaa Mensah biography]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>

== Works and performances ==
The museum collection reproduces the Fanti Trio sleeve ''Sokoo Na Maa Mope''. A Smithsonian archive entry independently documents a Washington performance on 3 July 1975, situating his music in the Festival of American Folklife's African Diaspora programme. That record complements the Ghanaian recording history with evidence of international live presentation.<ref name="kwaa-smithsonian">[https://www.si.edu/object/archives/components/sova-cfch-sff-1975-ref2534 Smithsonian Institution: Kwaa Mensah, 1975 Festival recording record]. Accessed 23 October 2026.</ref>

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