Tai Adelaja

Since: 2025 | Position: Contributor | Location: Lagos | Page Views: 412

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About Me

Tai is a percussionist and sound designer.

Tai “TMon” Adelaja is a percussionist and sound designer currently based in the Lagos metropolitan area of Nigeria. He is also a skilled writer with especial knowledge and expertise about arts and entertainment, music technology, musical instruments and the creative arts in general. Tai owns and runs a private rehearsal and recording studio at The Outpost, his suburban residence and workspace just on the outskirts of Lagos. Tai is an entrained and gifted master of the djundjun (traditional African bass drum). He is also proficient on djembe and other percussion instruments, and all-in-all he is a passionate scholar of themes and concepts in global percussionism. An all-round enthusiast of all things musical, Tai plays keyboards and electronic wind instruments and has a very strong curiousity about traditional musical instruments from around the world. He is also a gifted DJ experienced in programming a wide range of music styles and genres. Tai studied African drum and dance with Babatunde Olatunji in the 1990s and completed a three-year residency with Wo’se Cultural Institute in 2000. He has performed at Howard University's Crampton Auditorium, at the Cosmos Club in DC, at Karibu Books in Prince George's Centre in Maryland, at the Arts Center in Accra, Ghana, at Freedom Park in Lagos, at the Ethnic Heritage Centre in Lagos and at Ibis Styles Hotel in Airport City in Accra, Ghana. In his professional, social and private life, Tai pursues a passion for arts and culture, a commitment to environmental causes and a penchant for concepts in afrocentric fashion and afro-futurism. A committed champion of the percussive arts, he is frontman for the Lagos Drum Circle and indulges his passion for and knowledge of jazz music as editor-in-chief of Simply Jazz, Nigeria's premier jazz magazine. He is also a member of the Lagos Jazz Society and is involved with the Nigeria Guild of Theatre Arts Drummers (GOTHAD).

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My Jazz Story

One of the best live jazz shows I ever attended was Pat Metheny Group at the Wolf Trap Centre for the Creative Arts in Virginia, USA circa 1996. 3-entree concert including Arturo Sandoval and Gonzalo Rubalcalba, if I remember correctly. We sat on the lawn and had a blast.

My House Concert Story

Yes. A nightime house jazz concert in East Legon, Accra, Ghana, August 2021. 4-piece band in a beautiful garden of a private house with a large pond and running brook/stream. Awesome ambience. Great company. Nice vibes. A good time was had by all.