Nana Adjoa – in session at 3VOOR-FM – The Netherlands – December 4, 2020 – VPRO
Nana Adjoa in session tonight – recorded live at 3VOOR-FM in The Netherlands on December 4, 2020.
You can ask anyone, 2020 was a very bad year for music. COVD shut venues down, cancelled festivals, cast a pall on music, especially new music, and looked forward with dread that 2021 will be much the same.
But then something happens, someone comes along and their mere presence fills you with hope – all’s not lost. Music will always find a way – it does – we lose sight of that sometimes. But an artist like Nana Adjoa comes along and your optimism, your faith that music will never, can never die is made glowingly abundant and you realize the possibilities and the magic are still there.
I cannot tell you what a sheer delight it’s been to stumble across this session. Credit must go to radio outlets like VPRO in The Netherlands, and many others throughout Europe who still see the essential nature of music, the healing qualities present in the notes and go to great lengths to still make live performances available, while still adhering to social distancing and all the precautions necessary in this time of COVID.
But the gratitude goes to Nana Adjoa for bringing her music and her message to an audience during this otherwise pessimistic time. A Dutch-Ghanaian singer-songwriter who weaves sonic tapestries and creates spell-binding music as if pulling it out of thin air, Nana Adjoa has become the right gift at the right time.
She really is a new artist – her debut album (Big Dreaming Ants) came out in September – owing to the restrictions placed by the pandemic, she’s had to rely on these live sessions (she’s done an NPR Tiny Desk session in addition to a few VPRO sessions) and has been getting her message out that way. However she does it, we’re grateful. Her backing band is top-notch and is totally satisfying and a compelling reason for repeated playings.
It would do you well to search out her album (via Bandcamp) and grab it while you can – there are also some single remixes available so you have no excuse not to support her work until she gets to perform before an audience again.
Now is the time to support music – it’s the glue that’s holding us all together at the moment – the least we can do is kick in a few bucks and show some love.
