Jody Linscott was born in the
United States and grew up in
Braintree, Massachusetts, but went to
England on a holiday in 1971 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 fibreglass 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. ==Career==