KOFO CD REVIEW
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NuJazzCity.com, Kofo CD Review, 12/01/00 >>
Kofo "The Wonderman" & The Daylight Stars are the most exciting Afro-Beat acts on the Market and are ready to take the world by storm. Led by talking drum master, Kofo "The Wonderman", the resulting music is a fiery cauldron of Afro-Beat sound that bridges Afro-Beat, JUJU and traditional music from Lagos, Nigeria with Funk and Soul from Brooklyn, New York. Kofo pays homage to the masters Fela and King Sunny Ade by carrying the music in a bold and daring new direction.
Kofo "The Wonderman" is a master talking-drummer, an innovator and a singer/composer. He is a direct decendent of Master Musicians and custodions of traditional arts and cultures of the Yoruba people of Nigeria.
As a member of Prisoners of Conscience, Kofo has toured and performed on the same bill with such POP luminaries as Tracy Chapman, Burning Spear and Jimmy Cliff. He has also appeared with his group (Prisioners of Conscience) as a guest artist on David Letterman's "The Late Night" show. Kofo earned his nickname "The Wonderman," because he is one of the world's formost talking drum players. Hailing from a family whose roots are in percussion, Kofo has collaborated with such greats as Babatunde Olatunji and Little Steven of Bruce Springsteen fame. He was also one of the pivotal forces behind Majek Fashek's stellar "Sprit of Love" released by Interscope Records in 1991.
Kofo The Wonderman also led a group of 12 talking drummers in a Performance at the Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center during the Spirit of the Drum Badanya '99.
Kofo has taken his mastery of the talking drum to new levels. Kofo actually plays chords with his talking drum. He can run an entire scale with his instrument, and as a sessionist he he has been renowned for his unique style and playing. Now, finally, Kofo's style can be witnessed in his own group, the Daylight Stars. As a band leader, Kofo is uniquely in tune with the rhythm and structure of his compositions. Rarely in African music does one find a percussionist fronting a group. The result is that there is a unique communication taking place between band members and the percussionist band leader.
Band leader Kofo explains: "If you were to see stars in the sky in broad daylight, you would be shocked, scared, intrigued and excited at once... The same variety of emotions that you will have when you witness our group, The Daylight Stars, perform."
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