The live music scene in Ghana is a thriving component of Ghanaian culture. However, its prominence dwindled when President Jerry Rawlings took over in government and enforced a musical curfew in the 1960s. Local musicians were prevented from expressing themselves and sharing their music with others.

Consequently, such artists sought musical refuge in Professor John Collins, a renowned musician and producer. Collins provided a life line for the local musicians restricted under Rawlings regime, by allowing those who earned a living through the production of live music, to record and continue producing from his studio.

Although the curfew imposed upon live music, and there was a decline in bands performing publicly, music remained an undercurrent within Ghana's cultural composition and is now being reignited as live music performances are the common scene once again. We, at The Saturday Statesman wanted to investigate this revolutionary growth of the live music scene for ourselves and started off in Bywel Bar, Osu.

On Thursday nights in Bywel Bar, a live band called the Alpha Waves Band, led by Desmond Ababio, play a mixture of classic, well known hits and requests, and their own original songs, in their own unique style. The band is revered as "Ghana"s new age High Life Music." Whilst the band entertains the crowd with a diversity of music tastes, reggae and jazz to name but a few, the audience are welcome to come and dance and 'strut their stuff’.

In addition, a good range of food and drinks are available all night long. With an entrance fee of ¢15,000, a good time to arrive is approximately 8pm to get a seat, although the music doesn’t begin until 8.30pm. As the night gets into full swing a mixed crowd of Ghanaian locals, backpackers and continental visitors flow through the doors to dance the night away, until 1.30am which is when the band end their performance.

Bywel is definitely a relaxing but equally as entertaining place for an introduction to Ghanaian music.

However, as well as Bywel’s there are number of other venues throughout Accra supplying impetus to the re-ignition of live music everyday of the week. These include :

- Jazztone, located on Aviation Road, which caters for jazz lovers, with live jazz music from Thursday through until Sunday. This includes sets from a pianist and music from the Jazztone Allstars. On Wednesday, sixties music adds variety and colour to the eclectic musical programme. A vibrant crowd including, Ghanaian locals, students and businessmen come in force to appreciate the live music provided. No entrance fee.

- Chester’s, situated in Nyaniba Estate, is open everyday, however provides an energetic atmosphere layered with live music from ‘Zoom’, a band who have been playing in the bar for the last 12 years, on Wednesday evenings. The band draws in a "cosmopolitan crowd" who enjoy the music on a regular basis. There is a small entrance fee of 30,000 cedis.

- Chelsea’s Place, positioned by Danquah Circle, hosts a live music evening on Fridays. There a number of different bands which perform, in order to provide musical diversity to cater for all tastes. The night attracts a varied crowd of students, young professionals and locals who enjoy the diversity of music performed.

- Tropicana, holds live music nights on Friday and Saturday evenings, with a resident band that performs. However occasionally, there are performances from other artists to ensure that variety is provided. Jazz, evergreen and High Life compose the main programme for the evenings, with jazz being the predominant feature. Therefore the crowd is mainly composed of older guests than the aforementioned bars. The restaurant is open from seven until late.

The bars and restaurants listed above are to name but a few that exist throughout Accra. Furthermore, outside of Accra the growth of live music is continually expanding, contributing to the eclectic mix of musical tastes that are being revived. There is definitely something for everybody on the rapidly growing music scene.