Tony Kofi

Born in 1966 in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England, to Ghanaian parents, Kofi developed an early fascination with music and, during his teenage years, mastered the alto saxophone through self-instruction. An advertisement highlighting free jazz workshops led by Leicester-based drummer Nick Hislam ignited his passion for the genre, prompting rigorous study that ultimately secured him a full scholarship to Berklee College Of Music, where he enrolled from 1988 to 1990 and studied under Billy Pierce, Donald Byrd, Ernie Watts, and Ralph Moore. Returning to the UK in 1991, he performed with the Jazz Warriors and Gary Crosby’s Nu-troup. Throughout the remainder of the decade he collaborated with an array of jazz figures such as Julian Argüelles, Claude Deppa, Billy Higgins, Andrew Hill, Branford Marsalis, David Murray, Courtney Pine, Tim Richards, Lonnie Smith, and Us3, while expanding his instrumental command to include baritone and soprano saxophones alongside the alto.

In the early 2000s Kofi joined forces with trumpeter Byron Wallen on multiple ventures, among them the quartet Indigo, which honors earlier masters of the baritone saxophone. Together with Wallen he established jazz workshops and tutorials and co-authored a jazz theory book. An encounter with James Weaver, a friend of Thelonious Monk, fostered a profound affinity for Monk’s compositions that inspired several projects, including a quartet devoted exclusively to Monk repertoire; at the 2003 London Jazz Festival the group delivered seventy such works across a continuous six-hour performance. His regular quartet features pianist Jonathan Gee, bassist Ben Hazleton, and drummer Winston Clifford, with vibraphonist Orphy Robinson occasionally augmenting the lineup. The resulting album Kofi’s Monk: All Is Know earned a nomination for Jazz Album Of The Year at the 2005 BBC Jazz Awards and received widespread critical acclaim. Kofi has also performed with Lucky Ranku’s African All Stars and directed his own ensemble, the ten-piece Afro Jazz Family.