TONY KOFI
Genres: Hard Bop, Soul Jazz • United Kingdom

b. 1966, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England. Born to Ghanaian parents, Kofi became interested in music and in his teens taught himself to play the alto saxophone. Seeing an advertisement for a series of free jazz workshops being run by Leicester-based drummer Nick Hislam sparked his interest in jazz. Kofi studied intensively, eventually winning a full-time scholarship to the Berklee College Of Music, which he attended from 1988-90 and where his tutors included Billy Pierce, Donald Byrd, Ernie Watts, and Ralph Moore. Back in the UK in 1991, Kofi played with the Jazz Warriors and Gary Crosby’s Nu-troup. Through the rest of the 90s Kofi played with numerous jazz luminaries, including Julian Argüelles, Claude Deppa, Billy Higgins, Andrew Hill, Branford Marsalis, David Murray, Courtney Pine, Tim Richards, Lonnie Smith and Us3. In addition to alto, Kofi became proficient on baritone and soprano saxophones. In the early 00s, he teamed up with trumpeter read more...