At an age when most children are occupied with learning how to count and tie their shoes, Paa Kow was busy playing music with his family’s concert band. From those early days in the small village of Enyan Denkyira near Cape Coast in Ghana, the drummer has continued to explore the instrument’s potential and now tours the world from his home base in Denver. Specializing in danceable jams with lyrics in English and his native Fante, Paa Kow has a new album out in mid-October called Cookpot, which derives its title from the drummer’s opinion that making music is comparable to preparing food. Paa Kow plays a free show at The Altamont Theatre on Monday, Sept. 11, at 8 p.m. thealtamonttheatre.com. Photo by Elliot Sif