Paa Kow

Paa Kow, born as Paa Kow Isaac Ninson (died 23 December 2025), was a Ghanaian highlife and Afro-fusion drummer, composer and bandleader.

Early life Paa Kow grew up in a musical family in the small village of Enyan Denkyira, near Cape Coast, Ghana. Paa Kow began playing and performing music at the age of five. His uncle and mother were both singers in a touring concert band called the Enidado Professional Band. It was with this band that Paa Kow first began performing, first playing cowbell and congas and then eventually moving to the drum set by age seven. Due to the cost and lack of access to instruments, he would fashion his own drums out of metal cans, wire, and a fertilizer bag as a bass drum, which he used to practice for hours every day. He also had to build his own drum pedal using an old sandal, a door hinge and some string.

While touring the country with his uncle's band, other band leaders began to take notice of the prodigious young drummer and Paa Kow was soon playing with other known groups,

Career In 2007, Paa Kow was invited to Boulder, Colorado as a guest artist of the University of Colorado music school to perform with West African Highlife Ensemble directed by Kwasi Ampene. Notable artists he has performed with in the US include Victor Wooten, Michael Kang, Brad Goode and John Gunther.

Personal life and death Paa Kow had two sons. He died on 23 December 2025.