His biggest hit was in Nzema, not Twi or Fante. In 1974, Jewel Ackah released Gyaki Mea, an album in the language of his home area in Ghana’s Western Region, and it won him awards and a national following. For the next four decades, Ghanaians called him the Prince of Highlife.
Axim
Ackah was born in Axim, a coastal town in the Western Region, in the mid-1940s. Before music, he worked for the shipping company Palm Line and played football. He was discovered by the highlife guitarist Ebo Taylor.
Early bands
In 1965 he began singing with a cover band called the Pick Ups. He later sang with C.K. Mann’s Carousel Seven, one of the great Fante highlife bands, and with the Sweet Talks, the band associated with A.B. Crentsil.
Gyaki Mea
Gyaki Mea showed that highlife could succeed in a smaller Ghanaian language. Ackah’s smooth voice and the band’s polished arrangements made it a hit far beyond Nzema-speaking areas.
Electric Hi-Life
In 1986, Ackah recorded Electric Hi-Life, performing alongside Pat Thomas and A.B. Crentsil. The album reflected the electronic, keyboard-driven highlife sound of the 1980s.
Arise, Arise
Ackah wrote the lyrics of “Arise, Arise”, which became the party anthem of the National Democratic Congress. It is sung to the tune of the hymn “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”. Former President Jerry Rawlings attended his burial in Tema in 2018.
Gospel turn
In later years, Ackah moved towards gospel music and is credited with helping popularise gospel highlife in Ghana. Songs such as “Asomdwee Hene” reflected this shift.
Illness and death
Ackah suffered a stroke and battled illness for more than ten years. He died at his home on 27 April 2018, aged about 73. Colleagues described him as a perfectionist who demanded high standards from his musicians.
His songs
His catalogue includes “Abena”, “Bodambo Bodambo” and many others, still played on Ghanaian radio programmes devoted to old highlife.
A western sound
Ackah belongs to a tradition of Western and Central Region highlife musicians, from C.K. Mann to Ebo Taylor, whose music shaped what Ghanaians think of as classic highlife.
Many highlife stars sang in the language of the capital. Jewel Ackah proved a man from Axim could sing in Nzema and still have the whole country dancing.
