Letters - Paperback

John Collins is a naturalised Ghanaian of British decent who has been active in the Ghanaian/West African music scene since 1969 as a guitarist, band leader, music union activist, journalist, writer, music teacher and archivist. In the 1970s he operated his Bokoor Highlife band and over the years has worked, recorded and played with numerous Ghanaian and Nigerian artists and bands such as the Jaguar Jokers, Francis Kenya, E.T. Mensah, Abladei, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Koo Nimo, Kwaa Mensah, Victor Uwaifo, Bob Pinodo, the Bunzus, the Black Berets, T.O. Jazz, Atongo Zimba and Aaron Bebe Sukura. He has published ten books and scores of journalistic and academic papers on African popular music and been involved with many films on Ghanaian popular, art and traditional music. He obtained his first degree from the University of Ghana in 1972 and his Doctorate in Ethnomusicology at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1994. In 1982 he opened his Bokoor Recording Studio and in 1987 was made an honorary life-member of the International Association for the Study of Popular Music (IASPM). During the 1990s, Collins was Technical Director of the three-year joint Universities of Ghana/Mainz African Music Re-documentation Project, and for seven years was with the Ghana National Folklore Board of Trustees/Copyright Administration. Between 1997 and 2013, he was co-leader of the Local Dimension highlife band. He is currently a Patron of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and a Full Professor of the Music Department at the University of Ghana at Legon, where he has been teaching since 1995. He is also Chairman of the BAPMAF African Popular Music Archives NGO. More information about the author and the book can be found at http: //highlifetime.com/.