Tony Kofi is a jazz saxophonist and composer from Nottingham, United Kingdom, born in 1966. He begins his playing career after attending jazz workshops in Leicester led by Nick Hislam, and he later studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston on a full scholarship. While in the United States, he studies with Andy Magee, Ernie Watts and Billy Pierce.

Career

After returning to the UK, Tony Kofi joins The Jazz Warriors in 1991. The group, later known in its current form as Tomorrow’s Warriors, acts as a major training ground for young British jazz musicians. He also plays a key role in Gary Crosby’s Nu Troop, which helps to shape his solo, ensemble and educational work.

He remains active as a teacher, running workshops and giving individual lessons. During the 1990s, he appears with a wide range of musicians and groups, and composes for his own ensembles, including a ten-piece group called the Afro Jazz Family and The Tony Kofi Trio. He also tours with the World Saxophone Quartet.

Monk project and awards

Since 2000, Kofi works with Jonathan Gee, Ben Hazleton, Winston Clifford and featured artist Orphy Robinson on a repertoire of Thelonious Monk compositions. The group performs all 70 Monk tunes in a six-hour set at the 2003 London Jazz Festival, with original Monk-inspired music by Philip Clark. Their album All Is Know, released on Specific Jazz, includes Monk originals and string arrangements by Philip Clark. The group wins the 2005 Jazz Parliamentary Award and the 2005 BBC Jazz Award for best ensemble and best album.

Later projects

Kofi completes another album for Specific Jazz that features only his own original compositions. He also leads The Tony Kofi Trio +1, an original project that includes Byron Wallen on trumpet, Anders Olinder on B3 Hammond organ and Winston Clifford on drums, with the line-up expanding to a six-piece on the album Future Passed. That expanded group also features Robert Fordjour on drums, Cameron Pierre on guitar and Donald Gamble on percussion.

The Hammond organ sound becomes central to this project after Kofi’s experience on a US3 world tour in 1994, when he hears Lou Donaldson and Dr Lonnie Smith perform and later records with Dr Lonnie Smith in London. He meets Anders Olinder in 2001 and sees a similar approach to the organ, which leads him to compose specifically around that sound.