Tony Kofi (born 10 July 1966) is a British

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

saxophonist and flautist. He leads a trio and quartet and is co-founder of the Monk Liberation Band. His trio includes drummer Winston Clifford and

Hammond B3 Hammond may refer to: People * Hammond Innes (1913–1998), English novelist * Hammond (surname) * Justice Hammond (disambiguation) Places Antarctica * Hammond Glacier, Antarctica Australia *Hammond, South Australia, a small settlement in South ...

organist Anders Olinder. Kofi is signed to the Specific Jazz label. He has twice won

BBC Jazz Awards The BBC Jazz Awards were set up in 2001 and had the status of one of the premier jazz awards in the United Kingdom (among those presenting the awards were Denis Lawson, Sue Mingus, Humphrey Lyttelton, Ian Carr, Clive James, Mike Gibbs, Julian Jo ...

: Best Instrumentalist in 2008 and Best Album in 2005 for ''All Is Know''. Tony joined

Grand Union Orchestra Grand Union Orchestra, also known as The Grand Union, is a multicultural world jazz ensemble based in London. It has been performing, touring and recording large-scale shows for over 30 years and is well known for its educational work. Biography ...

in 1998, led by artistic director Tony Haynes, and has been a prominent player ever since. In May 2021 Kofi appeared on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

to discuss his early life and the life-changing event that led him to take up the saxophone.

Early life

Kofi was born in Nottingham to Ghanaian parents. His mother was a big fan of jazz and owned a lot of records. He was born left handed but forced by his family to use his right hand. Kofi had dreams of being a musician but was told that was unrealistic. As he was good at woodwork at school, that set his path for his likely career as a carpenter. At the age of 16 he was working as an apprentice when a splinter caught his sleeve and he fell from a roof. As he fell he says he experienced a clear vision of his life stretching out before him, including travel, a family and playing an instrument. After the fall he was in a coma for several days but in time recovered fully. Kofi received some compensation money for the fall, and he spent £50 of it on a saxophone. He told his parents he wasn't going back to work and would be focused completely on teaching himself to play the instrument. At first his family didn't approve but he played every day, despite complaints about the noise from his six brothers. As he improved, his parents came to support his attempts and his mother gave him her records to learn from. Kofi later studied at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

Discography

* ''Plays Monk: All Is Know'' (Specific Jazz, 2004) * ''Future Passed'' (Specific Jazz, 2006) * ''The Silent Truth'' (Specific Jazz, 2008) * ''For the Love of Ornette'' with Jamaldeen Tacuma (Jazzwerkstatt, 2011) * ''Point Blank'' (The Last Music Company, 2018) * ''Another Kind Of Soul (Live)'' (The Last Music Company, 2020) Source:

References

Living people 21st-century British male musicians 21st-century saxophonists British jazz saxophonists British songwriters British people of Ghanaian descent British male saxophonists English songwriters English people of Ghanaian descent English jazz saxophonists Jazz alto saxophonists Jazz baritone saxophonists Jazz soprano saxophonists Jazz flautists British male jazz musicians 1966 births Nu Troop members British male songwriters 21st-century flautists {{flautist-stub