Kofi Shepsu

Kofi Shepsu is a drummer whose playing joins the West African percussion tradition he trained in as a child to the modern jazz mainstream. Raised in Richmond, Virginia, he started drumming at age four and studied for seven years under Baba Olumide before coming to the drum set through the Richmond Youth Jazz Guild. He attended the Manhattan School of Music on a full scholarship, studying there with Buster Williams, Kendrick Scott and Marc Cary. He plays in the Charles Owens Trio and in FRIENDSHIP, a New York trio with pianist Jenny Xu and bassist Ben Feldman, and leads the Kofi Shepsu Trio. He has also performed with Savion Glover, Rodney Whitaker, Benny Benack III and Julius Rodriguez.