Tony Kofi
When did you know you wanted to be a songwriter and why?
- I knew from the age of 16/17yrs old. It's when I decided that I wanted to be a jazz musician. It came to me like a vision and I knew it there and then that my life would never be your regular 9 to 5 daily grind.
Who was the artist that first inspired you to write?
- I think it's composers/performers like Duke Ellington, Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus and Miles Davis . They wrote about things that were very close to their hearts: life, people, love and even something that was quite taboo in 50's/60's America to write about in song format, racism. Charles Mingus told it how it was. Those kinds of composers will always inspire me. I've written a whole catalogue of music and each one will tell you a story related to me in some way. So if I had to say one, I'd say Duke Ellington.
How do you think writing Jazz differs to Classical or Pop music?
- I think it's the way we use our extended harmonies, our b5th, # or b9th and13th chords, these are all extended from your basic major or minor chords to make the music sound pretty or ugly, I'd say you need all of that to get your feeling across to the listener. You'd never hear that in pop or classical and if you did, I bet your bottom dollar that, that person has had some schooling in jazz harmony. It sounds different and it can really affect one's mood. Listen to all those composers I mentioned above and you'll see what I mean. Thelonius Monk was one of the masters of advanced harmony, listen to his composition "Ugly Beauty".
What was the first song you wrote and what inspired it?
- The first song I ever wrote was for my mother; my first inspiration. She inspired me to carry on with my music when I was about to quit because I had no regular job or money. She told me "Music is like life and if you quit now, you'll never know where it might have taken you so stick it out." I followed her advice and did, I've seen and had the best rewards life has to offer and more. So I composed a song entitled "Ode to Amma", it even has words to it.
What is your favourite song and why?
- Wow! That's a hard one because my taste is so wide, not just in Jazz, but Pop, Classical, R&B and Country & Western too. In Jazz, it has to be Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood, because of the mood it sets you in from the beginning of the song. If this song doesn't get you in the first 8 bars then you must be emotionally detatched! Listen to the album "Duke Ellington & John Coltrane". If you were to ask me from a pop point of view, it has to be Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", it's a classic. It goes through so many different movements, changes, harmonies and moods. Freddy Mercury was a great all round musician and composer, who truly knew the beauty and secret of using harmony to change listeners' mood. He was one of our great losses in the music world.
If you had to choose between performing or being a songwriter, which would you choose and why?
- Wow! Another hard question! It would have to be performing, which is exactly what I'm doing at this moment. You see in order for me to get inspired, I need to experience the feeling first and I get most of that from all the traveling I do when performing. I've been around the world four times over and seen the most beautiful sights. It's very difficult not to get inspired by what you see and feel, this truly inspires me to write from another prospective. That and meeting other amazing musicians. Now if I was just a song writer, I'd be just based in one or two places and looking for inspiration to compose. With travelling and performing it comes to me. Plus a lot of song writers are mainly in the background, while the performers have all the fun! I feel lucky that I can be both of the above and have fun doing it. As they say in the business, "I'm living the dream, baby".