Formerly Bassline Jazz Club, +233 (named after the Ghanaian dialling code) is an intelligently designed club that has live bands six days a week. Inside, there are two floors. The band play on a small stage downstairs, but can also be seen from the U-shaped upstairs. There’s ample seating outside too, which looks onto a glass wall behind which the band play. And external speakers mean it's almost as loud outside as in. Each section has its own bar with attentive servers. The food – burgers, hotdogs, chicken, chips, kebabs and pork chops – is mostly off the grill. The music varies between highlife, blues, jazz (although rarely hip hop) and anything else good. There’s only an entrance charge (usually GH¢10) when the band merits it. It’s a hugely popular venue, and rightly so. Probably the best place in Accra to see live music at the moment.
Ghanaian music is blowing up on the international stage. Some of the country's best-loved artists are now making waves far beyond West African shores. The country's trademark genre is highlife, which has its roots in pre-colonial times, but hiplife, an energetic hybrid of highlife, dancehall and hip hop, is a new pretender to the throne. Music is the lifeblood of Accra - no trip to the capital would be quite complete without a trip to one of these swinging live music venues.
