Emmanuel Nii Okai Quartey
Lovingly known as “Okai Trumpet”
20 May 1939 — 11 August 2019 · aged 80
Highlife trumpeter, Achimota music master and the heartbeat of Jamestown's Homowo
Accra, Ghana Born in Jamestown, Accra Resting at Osu Cemetery, AccraAbout Emmanuel
Nobody in Jamestown remembers exactly when Nii Okai Quartey got his first trumpet, only that by the time he was twelve the fishermen on the beach had stopped asking him to be quiet and started asking him to play.
Born in 1939 into a Ga fishing family, Emmanuel was the son of a net-mender and a fishmonger. A music teacher at his primary school heard him copy a bugle call by ear and wrote a letter to Achimota School, which offered him a place in 1953. There he learned to read music, to play in a proper brass section, and to hide a cheap Besson trumpet under his bed so that he could practise at dawn without waking the dormitory.
In 1959 he joined the Accra Rhythm Aces, a highlife band that played the dance halls of Accra and toured Lagos, Abidjan and Freetown over the next quarter-century. He was the band's first trumpet and its quiet conscience, the one who made sure the younger players were paid. In 1978 he returned to Achimota as music master and taught there for twenty-one years, conducting the school's brass ensemble, and playing with the Aces at weekends.
He married Comfort Adjeley Tetteh in 1964. At home he loved kenkey with fried fish and shito, the Sunday service band at Ebenezer Presbyterian, and the annual Homowo festival, which he never missed in eighty years. His old trumpet hung above the sitting room door, polished weekly, though nobody ever saw him polish it.
He died peacefully at home in August 2019, a few weeks before Homowo. He leaves his wife of fifty-five years, his children and fourteen grandchildren, and a generation of Ghanaian musicians who started on a school trumpet.
“A trumpet is just a loud way of saying thank you.”
- Faith
- Christian
- Place of birth
- Jamestown, Accra
- Resting place
- Osu Cemetery, Accra
- Passed away
- 11 August 2019, Accra
Funeral Service
Sunday, 25 August 2019 at 08:00 UTC
Add to calendarLife journey
Music Scholar
Achimota School1953 – 1958 · Accra
Learned to read music and play in a full brass section.
Married Comfort Adjeley Tetteh
1964 · Accra
A marriage of fifty-five years.
Music Master
Achimota School1978 – 1999 · Accra
Conducted the school brass ensemble for twenty-one years.
Bandmaster
Ebenezer Presbyterian Church Brass Band1980 – 2018 · Jamestown, Accra
Led the church band on Sundays and at every Homowo.
Veteran Musicians' Recognition
Musicians Union of Ghana2011 · Accra
For fifty years of service to highlife.
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Family & connections
Emmanuel is survived by
- Comfort Quartey· Spouse
- Nii Armah Quartey· Son
- Maame Esi Quartey-Boateng· Daughter
- Naa Dedei Quartey· Daughter
- 14 grandchildren· Grandchildren
Tributes & memories
6 people have shared a memory of Emmanuel.
Knew Emmanuel? Share a memory with the family and everyone who loved them.
Sign in to write a tribute- EO
Church band member, Ebenezer Presbyterian
At Homowo this year we marched through Jamestown with the old Quartey trumpet held high at the front, played by his grandson. The streets went silent for a full minute. Then somebody began to sing, and we all did.
- MQ
Daughter, London
Daddy phoned every Sunday and played me a short phrase down the line, then said, 'Your turn.' I hum it back. Last month I put my own daughter on the phone, and he played it for her. She hums it too. Thank you for the notes, Daddy.
- DA
Professor of Music, University of Ghana
He never wrote a book, but half the performance practice of highlife brass in my department comes from what he showed students at Achimota. He asked only that his students play for people, not for applause. A rare, generous musician.
- AF
Fan, Accra
My parents met at a dance where the Rhythm Aces played, and Mr. Quartey's trumpet solo was the first song they danced to. I was born nine months later, so please accept my thanks on behalf of my entire family.
- TT
Childhood friend and fisherman, Jamestown
We mended nets together as boys. He used to hang his trumpet on the mast of my father's canoe and play to the sea in the evenings. The fish never came closer, but we did. He played at both our weddings and I will not hear that sound again.
- KA
Former Achimota student, now a professional trumpeter
Mr. Quartey would stand behind my chair at rehearsal and press two fingers between my shoulder blades. 'Breathe from there,' he said. I still do. Every note I play comes with his two fingers on my back. Ghana's brass sections have lost their father.
