SHOW TIMES: 7:30PM AND 9:30PM. A native of the Ivory Coast of West Africa, N’Guessen grew up in a family where his mother sang in the church choir and his father was an avid jazz fan who listened to John Coltrane and Count Basie. N’Guessen began playing the percussion at church at age 7. He Started played drumset at age 9. By 15 he was making money as a drummer and decided to pursue a career in music. He holds a master’s degree in musicology from the Institut National Superieur des Arts et de l’Action Culturelle (INSAAC) in Abidjan.

After playing in jazz clubs in Cote d’ Ivoire, he spent almost a decade playing jazz and teaching in Morocco. He was part of a jazz festival organized by the King of Morocco and has a chance to meet international luminaries such as Quincy Jones and George Benson. 

N’Guessan is influenced as a composer by jazz and by the music of his native country. He says there are 62 tribes in Cote d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast and each has a language that is musical. He brings these strands together in what he calls World Music. He will be sharing original compositions along with artists’ originals, he collaborated with and African songs in his concert at The Velvet Note.