To see Yaw Amponsah play drums is to see a master at work. Coming from a musical family from West Africa he is at home in the world of rhythm. He makes very difficult rhythms seem very easy. A versatile player he can play many styles of music from Ghana including Palmwine, Highlife, Odonson, Dagbani, Agbacha, and Kpanlogo. Also he knows how to play djembe music of Mali and Guinea, and even beats of popular Congolese music.

His speciality is the music of the multi-part percussion ensembles of the Asante (Ashanti) people. These sets of drums and corresponding rhythms can be made up of as many as eight independent percussion parts, sometimes even more. These are the drums and beats known as Kete, Fontonfrom, Adowa, and Akom. Not only does Yaw know the individual parts that make up these powerful grooves, but he is a master drummer and knows the traditional talking drum language and proverbs that accompany each style of drumming.

An incredible traditional African musician, he has also played other styles of music as well and has worked his drumming into Hip Hop, Rock, and Electronic music recordings. One interesting project he was involved in was making innovative sound installation recordings to accompany pieces from the Seattle Art Museum's collection of African art. He translated traditional proverbs from Twi into English and recited them in rhythm over Kete, Akom, Adowa, and Fontonfrom beats. Two selections of this work are presented here at funketabla, "Sankofa," for a sankofa bird, and "Circular Rainbow," for an Asante stool. These pieces not only illustrate something about the cultural depth of those art objects, but help to convey some of the levels and depth of Asante drumming as well.