Nii Noi Nortey is a multi-instrumentalist performing on both African instruments (e.g., alghaita, gyil, gonje, ngoni, seprewa) and Western ones (saxophones and flutes), as well as unique instruments of his own invention (afrifons, alboita). He is also a sound sculptor, author, educator, and arts library administrator whose base these last twenty-five years is Anyaa Arts Library, outside Accra, Ghana. In the UK Nii Noi is known for his performances and recordings with, among others, Dade Krama, African Dawn, David Panton, and Misty N Roots. In Ghana he has worked with well-known local artists like Ghanaba (Guy Warren), Pan African Orchestra, and Nii Otoo Annan, as well as visiting artists from Europe and the US. Some of his work of the last ten years is documented on the Accra Trane Station DVDs and CDs on the Voxlox label and in the book Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra by Steven Feld. Among written publications, he has recently produced Afrifonix: The Windpipes of Nii Noi Nortey, which chronicles the evolution of his afrifon inventions.
