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Paa Kow

Paa Kow is an internationally renowned artist, drum set player, composer, and producer. Growing up in the small village of Enyan Denkyira near Cape Coast in Ghana, West Africa, Paa Kow began to play music and tour with his family’s concert band at a very early age. He has since grown to be widely recognized as one of the most remarkable drum set players to tour in Africa, Europe, and America. Paa Kow’s deep groove and prodigious talent reveal a unique ability to speak to listeners with his drums, inspiring a profound spiritual conversation. His songs are captivating and danceable and incorporate lyrics in his native language, Fante, as well as English. Paa Kow’s vision is to spread the music and culture of his homeland by touring the world with his Afro-Fusion orchestra.

Notable musicians he has shared the stage with include African greats: Amakye Dede, George Darko, Kojo Antwi, Nat Brew, Hugh Masekela, and Vusi Mahlasela, as well as American greats Victor Wooten, Brad Goode, John Gunther, Michael Kang, and many more.

Brad Goode: The Unknown

Read "The Unknown" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
February 12, 2023

One of the joys attached to reviewing music is the exposure to artists who otherwise might not show up on the radar. For every Pat Metheny there are a hundred highly-creative, lower-profile, hugely-talented guitarists plucking the strings; for every Brad Mehldau plying the trade ten dozen marvelous, relatively unknown pianists show up in the mailbox or the downloads. And for every Ralph Alessi out there blowing their horns, you will--with just a bit of digging--encounter scores of trumpeters riding below ...

"Ghana's most artistic drummer." - Modern Ghana

"Paa Kow has taken the world music of his native Ghana, and tossed it into a basket with heaps of American influences to create an album that the great purveyors of world music - the Paul Simon's and the Bela Fleck's of the world - would envy." - Marquee Magazine

“Take the beat of Ghana’s traditional sound, add some American flavor, and mix it with Paa Kow’s stellar drumming chops. That is the musical recipe for a flavoursome sound." - Soul Safari

“The drumming makes the music such a captivating and bewitching listen, and that’ll make you want to dance along to the infectious rhythms