Jody Linscott - Early Days

Early Days

Jody Linscott was born in the United States, but went to England on a holiday in 1977 and never returned. While studying to be a bookbinder she repaired items, and once repaired a conga drum that the owner never returned to claim. After seeing a poster at the African Centre in Covent Garden for "Mustapha Tete Ade – Master Drummer from Ghana," she took the drum to his rhythms class to learn African rhythms. The class instructor, a visitor from Africa who was associated with the British Consulate, recognized her as a natural talent and offered to give her private lessons. Afterward, Linscott built a full set of congas from fiberglass and found a blacksmith to provide the hardware. She worked as a waitress at Dingwalls in Camden Town and kept the congas in the cloakroom to jam with the bands that played there.

Her professional break came when she played with the band Kokomo one evening, and was hired by the band as a percussionist. The band signed with Epic Records through Steve O'Rourke, Pink Floyd's manager, who then took over management of the band Kokomo. Linscott went on to work with Robert Palmer on the album Sneakin' Sally Through the Alley. Later she heard that Palmer was looking for a percussionist to go on tour, and after contacting him was hired. Linscott built her own percussion rack for the tour to provide a variety of creative sounds, and toured with Palmer in America for about two years. Afterward she went on to work with a number of other prominent professional groups and musicians.