Yakou Daniel N'GUESSAN is from the Ivory Coast, and currently resides in Atlanta, GA. He played drums and other percussions since he was a young child playing with the choral societies of the churches of his country at that time.
He Graduated from INSAAC (National Institute of Art and Cultural Action of Ivory Coast) in 1999 with a Master in Contemporary Jazz and Music Production; he has been performing professionally since 1995.
Yakou blends African folk rhythm with any standard music genre, and that is what makes his drumming so unique He also had the opportunity to play with multiple country’s famous jazz clubs and artists. He has been blessed to play with world-class musicians, such as Russell Gun, Lionel Giles Louéké, Paco Emmanuel Séry, Magid Bekkas, Joachim Ken, Linley Marthe, Lori William, Jorge Garcia, Wendy Moten, Jody Mayfield, William Green, Mausiki Scales & The Common Ground Collective, Bradie Speller, Ron Helman, Andre Manga, to name only a few …
In 2007, he was awarded with the prestigious Berklee African Scholarship...
In conjunction with this, he participated in several other project realizations of albums and festivals with artists from his country, the Middle East, Asia, and the rest of Africa. Since moving to the USA, he has continued to browse the scenes, jazz clubs, festivals, and musicians.