Top 10 Jazz Drummers alive today:
Joey Baron
Born: June 26, 1955Drummer Joey Baron was born into a Jewish working class family in Richmond, Virginia.
He is largely self-taught by means of watching others play and listening to recordings, radio and television. His early influences ran the gamut from Ed Sullivan show guests, to “The Wild Wild West” television show theme to records by Art Blakey, Ray Charles, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, James Brown, The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.
Besides being a member of the Bill Frisell Band for ten years until 1995, he has performed and recorded with an impressive list of musicians - including Carmen McRae, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Hampton Hawes, Chet Baker, Laurie Anderson, Art Pepper, Stan Getz, Lee Konitz, Joe Lovano, Vinicus Cantuaria, Jay McShann, David Bowie, The Los Angeles Philharmonic, Big Joe Turner, Philip Glass, John Abercrombie, Mel Lewis, Pat Martino, Harry Sweets Edison, David Sanborn, Al Jarreau, Jim Hall, Randy Brecker, Marian McPartland, John Scofield, Marc Johnson and The Lounge Lizards.
Joey has lead his own trios one with John Medeski and Marc Ribot; and “Barondown” which featured Ellery Eskelin (saxophone) and Josh Roseman (trombone). “Barondown” recorded three albums - Crackshot (Avant), RAIsed Pleasure Dot (New World) and Tongue in Groove (JMT).
He also co-lead the group “Miniature” (with Tim Berne and Hank Roberts) and was a member of “Naked City” (with John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Fred Frith and Wayne Horvitz) and of Zorn's group Masada (Dave Douglas and Greg Cohen).
Joey's first release on the Songline / Tone Field series on Intuition was Down Home. The project featuresBaron's southern r&b-flavored original songs played by an all star band of Ron Carter, Arthur Blythe and Bill Frisell. “The most intriguing ensemble of the season,” (New Yorker) “is not only all star, but fascinatingly so.”(-Village Voice.) We'll Soon Find Out, the band's second album was released the summer of 2000. Both albums are produced by Lee Townsend.
Baron's main performing band is “Killer Joey”, featuring guitarists Steve Cardenas and Brad Shepik as well as Tony Scherr on bass. They have a self-produced CD entitled Killer Joey with Shepik's predecessor, Adam Levy.
Occasionally, Joey still performs with “The Down Home Band” in a solo setting, with Bill Frisell, Lee Konitz, Vinicius Cantuaria, John Abercrombie and in a trio with pianist John Taylor and Marc Johnson on bass.
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Jack DeJohnette
Born: August 9, 1942
Born in Chicago in 1942, Jack De Johnette is widely regarded as one of jazz music's greatest drummers. Music appreciation flourished in De Johnette's family. He studied classical piano from age four until fourteen before beginning to play drums with his high school concert band.and taking private piano lessons at the Chicago conservatory of music. De Johnette credits his uncle, Roy l. Wood Sr., who was one of the most popular jazz DJ's in the South side of Chicago, later vice president of the National Network of Black Broadcasters, as the person who initially inspired him to pursue music.
In his early years on the Chicago scene, he led his own groups and was equally in demand as a pianist and as a drummer. He played R & B, hard bop, and avant-garde and was active with the experimentalists of the AACM in its early days, with the likes of founder Muhal Richard Abrams, Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman. In 1966, he drummed alongside Rashied Ali in the John Coltrane Quintet. International recognition came with his tenure in the Charles Lloyd Quartet, one of the first jazz groups to receive cross-over attention, also alerting the world to Keith Jarrett's skills.
Jack De Johnette has collaborated with most major figures in jazz history. Some of the great talents he has worked with are John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Sun Ra, Jackie McLean, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Stan Getz, Keith Jarrett, Chet Baker, George Benson, Stanley Turrentine, Ron Carter, Lee Morgan, Charles Lloyd, Herbie Hancock, Dave Holland, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Abbey Lincoln, Betty Carter and Eddie Harris, who is responsible for convincing De Johnette to stick with drums because he heard De Johnette's natural talent.
It was in 1968 that De Johnette joined Miles Davis's group in time for the epochal upheaval marked by “Bitches Brew,” an album that changed the direction of jazz. In his autobiography, Miles Davis said, “Jack De Johnette gave me a deep groove that I just loved to play over.” Jarrett soon followed De Johnette into the Davis group, and the drummer's first ECM recording, the duet “Rutya and Daitya” was made in 1971. Working with Miles also brought about collaborations with John McLaughlin, Chick Corea and Dave Holland.
In 1968 he recorded his first album as a leader on the Milestone label, called “The De Johnette Complex”, where Jack played melodica along with his mentor Roy Haynes on drums. In the early 70's he recorded “Have You Heard” in Japan and two albums for Prestige, called “Sorcery” and “Cosmic Chicken.” These early sessions united Jack with Gary Peacock, Bennie Maupin, Stanley Cowell, Miroslav Vitous, Eddie Gomez, Alex Foster and Peter Warren.
Jack began to record as a leader for ECM, with each of his successive groups Directions , New Directions , and Special Edition making important contributions to the evolution of jazz. The New Directions band featured two musicians who would have long-term associations with De Johnette: John Abercrombie and Lester Bowie. A friend from Chicago days, Bowie played intermittently with De Johnette until the end of his life. Most notably, Lester and Jack collaborated on a duo album called “Zebra,” which was a world beat influenced video soundtrack and CD. Abercrombie continued to work with De Johnette in the Gateway Trio , along with Dave Holland. Special Edition , with its rotating front line, helped introduce the sounds of David Murray, Rufus Reid, Howard Johnson, Arthur Blythe, Chico Freeman, Greg Osby, Michael Caine, Lonnie Plaxico, Gary Thomas and John Purcell to a wider audience. De Johnette has recorded as a leader on Columbia , Landmark, MCA/GRP, and Toshiba/EMI/Blue Note, but the bulk of his recordings are on the ECM label.
While continuing to lead his own projects and bands, De Johnette has also been a 20 year member of the immensely popular Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack De Johnette trio. De Johnette has appeared on more ECM albums than any other musician; his numerous recordings for the label display his subtle, powerful playing and the ‘melodic' approach to drums and cymbals that makes his touch instantly recognizable.
Jack is also known for his cutting edge collaborations; his “Parallel Realities” CD, with Herbie Hancock and Pat Metheny toured successfully and received much acclaim. Another major collaboration was a CD called, “Music for the Fifth World,” inspired by Jack's studies with a Seneca native elder, named Grandmother Twylah Nitsch. This project brought together the likes of Vernon Reid, Will Calhoun, John Scofield, traditional native american singers, Michael Cain, and Lonnie Plaxico. Most recently, he has also performed and recorded with Bobby McFerrin, Don Byron, Danilo Perez and Gonzalo Rubalcalba.
Jack has Received many awards for his music, including, “New Directions” which received the prestigious French Grand Prix du Disque, Charles Cros award in 1979. “Album, Album” and “Special Edition” both won album of the year in the annual Downbeat readers' polls. “Audio-Visualscapes” became album of the year in the Downbeat annual critics' poll 1989. “Parallel Realities” won album of the year in Japan . In 1991, “Earth Walk” won album of the year and recording of the year in Japan . Jack has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berkley College of Music in Boston in 1991. There is an extensive list of awards for drumming, including at least 14 years of the Downbeat polls, the NY Jazz awards, and the Jazz Central on line awards along with many international awards.
De Johnette's drumming, though originally influenced by masters including Max Roach, Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Art Taylor, Rashied Ali, Paul Motian, Tony Williams, and Andrew Cyrelle, has long drawn on sources beyond “jazz.” Thirty years ago, he was already describing his work as “multi-directional music.”
“As a child I listened to all kinds of music and I never put them into categories. I had formal lessons on piano and listened to opera, country and western music, rhythm and blues, jazz, swing, whatever. To me, it was all music and great. I've kept that integrated feeling about music, all types of music, and just carried it with me. I've maintained that belief and feeling in spite of the ongoing trend to try and compartmentalize people and music.”
As well as his previous credentials, De Johnette has also composed soundtracks for both TV and video. These include a soundtrack in collaboration with Pat Metheny for a PBS play called “Lemon Sky”; a soundtrack for a documentary called “City Farmers” by Meryl Joseph and a video production with fellow percussionist Don Alias on Homespun tapes, “Talking drummers”, which includes a documentary that was made of the whole process. Jack also enjoyed a cameo appearance as a member of the “Alligator Blues Band” in the Blues Brothers 2000 movie.
Beyond his own groups, some of De Johnette's most wide-open playing can be heard in his recordings of spontaneously improvised music with Keith Jarrett (“Always Let Me Go”, “Inside Out”, and “Changeless”); John Surman (“Invisible Nature”, “The Amazing Adventures of Simon Simon,” and the transitional sequences in Surman's music for reeds, drums, piano and brass ensemble, “Free and Equal”); Michael Cain and Steve Gorn (“Dancing With Nature Spirits”); and Don Alias, Michael Cain, and Jerome Harris (“Oneness”). De Johnette continues his ongoing visionary projects, including release of his new “Resonating Bells” instruments in collaboration with cymbal manufacturers, Sabian;forming a group celebrating the works of Jack's friend and master drummer Tony Williams, featuring John Scofield and Larry Goldings; and the first release, “Music in the key of Om” on his newly launched record label, “Golden Beams Productions.”
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Paul Motian
Born: March 25, 1931
Although he studied drums in the Navy School of Music in Washington, there has never been anything militaristic about Paul Motian's prolific work as a jazz drummer. In the mid-1950s, he played with a host of jazz stars including Stan Getz, George Russell and Thelonious Monk, but his major association was with pianist Bill Evans, both in Evans's trio and as a member of other groups, such as the quartet led by clarinettist Tony Scott.
With Bill Evans, he developed a way of playing that mirrored the pianist's phrasing and approach, often abandoning aspects of the drummer's traditional time-keeping role. He went on to prove that he is one of the finest trio drummers in jazz history, working with the free-jazz influenced group of Paul Bley and the more wide-ranging Keith Jarrett Trio. During the decade he played with Jarrett (1967-76), Motian developed a particular rapport with bassist Charlie Haden, in whose own groups he toured and recorded from time to time, from the 1960s to the 1990s.
From the late 1970s, Motian has mainly fronted his own groups, ranging from the excitement of his Electric Bebop Band (which pitted two guitarists against a saxophone player, backed by bass and drums) to more conventional jazz trios and quartets. His long-standing trio with saxophonist Joe Lovano and guitarist Bill Frisell is particularly noteworthy.
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Billy Hart
Born: November 29, 1940
Billy Hart was born in Washington D.C.
His first steady gigs of note were with Shirley Horn and Buck Hill. In the 1960’s he toured with Jimmy Smith, Wes Montgomery, Eddie Harris, and Pharoah Sanders. In 1970 he joined Herbie Hancock’s Sextet, and after that band broke up in 1973 he joined first McCoy Tyner (two years) and then Stan Getz (four). In the 1980’s Hart was a regular with many bands and leaders: Gerry Mulligan, Billy Harper, Clark Terry, The New York Jazz Quartet, the Jazztet, Mingus Dynasty and most extensively with Quest (with David Liebman, Ritchie Beirach, and Ron McClure). In the 1990’s Hart was a member of the Charles Lloyd, Joe Lovano, and Tom Harrell groups, and in 1999 he began performing with the Three Tenors (Liebman, Lovano, and Michael Brecker). He is on about 500 hundred records as a sideman.
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Bill Stewart
Born: October 18, 1966Percussionist Bill Stewart made his name as the rhythmic force behind guitarist John Scofield 's band, working with him for five years between 1990 and 1995. Self-taught on drums, Stewart is also a capable pianist, the instrument on which he composes. He grew up listening to his parents' jazz and R&B record collection, but otherwise jazz was a rare commodity in Iowa in the 70s and he played in a Top 40 covers band in high school as well as the school orchestra.
After graduating he enrolled at the University Of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, playing in the jazz and marching bands as well as the orchestra. He then transferred to college in Wayne, New Jersey, where he studied with Dave Samuels, Rufus Reid and Harold Mabern. It was here that he met future collaborator, saxophonist Joe Lovano. While still in college he made his recording debut with saxophonist Scott Kreitzer and recorded two further collections with pianist Armen Donelian. After graduation in 1988 he moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he set up home. There he began the slow process of establishing his reputation by regular appearances at jam sessions and by word of mouth, leading to his first gigs with the Larry Goldings trio.
At one of their regular sessions at Augie's Club in Manhattan, Maceo Parker attended and invited him to contribute to a forthcoming recording date (for Roots Revisited ). Afterwards he was invited to join Scofield's band, which also included Lovano, who has featured on both of Stewart's solo albums to date. The first, Think Before You Think, was issued on the Japanese label Jazz City and featured Dave Holland on bass and Marc Copland on piano in addition to Lovano. The second, Snide Remarks, featured pianist Bill Carrothers, trumpeter Eddie Henderson and bassist Larry Grenadier. This boasted nine original Stewart compositions, highlighting a sophisticated compositional technique that Lovano once analogized as being that of 'a melody player within the concept of rhythm'.
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Al Foster
Born: January 18, 1944
Al Foster, master drummer, has been a major innovator in the world of jazz for several decades. As a member of the Miles Davis band for thirteen years, Foster's contribution to Davis' music is articulated by Davis himself in his 1989 autobiography, Miles: The Autobiography, where Davis describes the first time he heard Foster play live in 1972 at the Cellar Club on 95th Street in Manhattan: 'He [Foster] knocked me out because he had such a groove and he would just lay it right in there. That was the kind of thing I was looking for. AI could set it up for everybody else to play off and just keep the groove going forever.”
Other artists Foster has performed and recorded with include Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, John Scofield, Pat Metheny, Charlie Haden, Randy & Michael Brecker, Bill Evans (the pianoplayer), George Benson, Kenny Drew, Carmen McRae, Stan Getz, Toots Thielemans, Dexter Gordon and Chick Corea.
Over the years, Foster has toured extensively with Herbie Hancock, Sonny Rollins, and Joe Henderson, becoming a major attraction in all three bands as well as an integral part of them.
Respected and admired for his keen sensitivity, Foster is known for his unique ability to listen to and playoff others in an almost telepathic way, responding to them with a style that is at once both charismatic and understated. Al Foster, is a great believer in the purity of the music, a genuine artist who continues to push the boundaries of creativity again and again, devoted to preserving and perpetuating the highest standards in jazz today.
He is a magnificent all-round drummer, and his rhythmic chops are renowned in musical styles ranging from bebop to free form to jazz/rock.
Recently he has recorded and toured with his own band.
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Joe LaBarbera
Born February 22, 1948
Is an American jazz drummer and composer. He is best known for his recordings and live performances with the trio of pianist Bill Evans in the final years of Evans's career. Prior to joining Evans he worked in the quartet of Chuck Mangione and Joe Farrell.
He was born in Mt. Morris, New York, younger brother to saxophonist Pat LaBarbera, and trumpeter and arranger/composer John LaBarbera. He was formally educated at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
After Berklee he spent two years with the US Army band at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He began his professional career playing with Woody Herman and the Thundering Herd, followed by the Chuck Mangione Quartet.
He then moved to New York and spent two years freelancing with a number of notable musicians, including Jim Hall, Phil Woods, Art Farmer, Gary Burton, Art Pepper, John Scofield, Bob Brookmeyer and Toots Thielmans.
In 1978, Joe joined the Bill Evans trio with bassist Marc Johnson. After Evans' death in 1980, Joe joined singer Tony Bennett. LaBarbera has played with jazz pianist Bill Cunliffe who described in an interview with All About Jazz reporter Fred Jung what it was like working with him:
"Joe was able to give me a traditional rhythmic approach, which I sometimes really love and then other times, he is able to be very avant-garde rhythmically, not play rhythms, maybe play colors, lose the time, get it back, and be very innovative. In the sextet, that is really important because there are times in the band that we will actually play free for a little while. We won't have any tempo or any format. We're playing songs, but sometimes we stop playing the songs altogether and just play whatever we want. Joe has the maturity to do both of those things and know to splice them together. There are many great musicians that when they play free, they don't know how to get out of it and back to the music."––Bill CunliffeLaBarbera currently resides in Los Angeles, California, where he has been teaching at the California Institute of the Arts since 1993. LaBarbera is also on the faculty of the Bud Shank Jazz Workshop in Port Townsend, Washington, has also served on the National Endowment for the Arts council in Washington, D.C., and has been a guest at many other colleges as both performer and lecturer.
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André Ceccarelli
Born 1946 - France
"The tempo, sonny, stick to it!" This piece of advice his father, himself a drummer, would give him, has stuck to André Ceccarelli’s memory. He even has it at his fingertips. Drawing on sixty, “Dédé” still exudes the same zest for playing which was part and parcel of the teenager on his way to Paris to make his début in a rock band (Les Chats Sauvages). And on top of that a comprehensive field experience - from accompanying singers to playing in great music groups - and one can easily understand why as early as 1998 Mr Ceccarelli was granted the Great jazz Award by the French copyright management society “Sacem” as an acknowledgement of his whole career.
Don’t be mistaken! The leading drummer from Nice is not the kind of musician to rest on his laurels. He drives his brand new trio at full speed with the gusto of a younger player. His two fellow players are up to par with him:Biréli Lagrène, a guitar virtuoso, a soul mate he had already invited to play in his latest album and Joey DeFrancesco, an American organ player in the tradition of Jimmy Smith. The three of them don’t make one brood, a far cry from it, and they set the whole audience on fire with a brand of music to be tasted at leisure.
André, Biréli and Joey have no need for a trial and error test to launch into the core of the matter - the famous tempo treasured by Daddy Ceccarelli - with a Miles Davis classic of its kind, Nardis, which comes first in an album recorded in the conditions of a live performance. A cocktail of generosity, fullness and rhythm is delivered rightaway.
A change of register in Sophisticated Lady, a great masterpiece by Duke Ellington “Dédé” knows how to sit in the background so as to bring his soloists to the fore in a romantic mood. With the unimpeachable Summertime, the trio display their cohesion and pay tribute to Jimmy Smith, one of the leading players of the organ-guitar-drums trio. After an interlude (Prélude) by the “Boss” playing a solo on the drums (two small minutes of sheer happiness), Dédé sets the band amoving in April in Paris in which Biréli displays his nimbleness while Joey dallies buoyantly.
In 3 Views Of A Secret, a piece by the mythical bass player Jaco Pastorius, the three fellow players demonstrate that they do share the same point of view on the ballad art. As they show the same gusto in the “Avenue des Diables Blues » composition, by Aé Ceccarelli, which lends its name to the album, Dédé, Biréli and Joey work themselves up into a frenzy, putting their heart and soul to match a hellish tempo. A dreaming spell is due with the two following pieces: La Vie en Rose by Edith Piaf (Biréli finetuning and Dédé being sprightly and brisk) and Sunrise” by the young vocal prodigy Norah Jones (André doing a wonderful job with the brushes). A breathing spell before a bracing The song is you, a great masterpiece by Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein II, which closes the album. Each of our three buddies drain their dwindling strength for the –quite friendly indeed-battle. The crowning piece of a firework display singlemindedly dedicated to rhythm and music.
With “Avenue des Diables Blues”, André Ceccarelli not only flaunts his musical gift (“an untamed jazz musician ringing his instrument in the way he speaks: with a spell binding southern accent” according to Didier Lockwood‘s assessment) but he also records one of the most beautiful pieces in one of the most striking jazz swing format, the organ-guitar-drums trio. And what smashing tempo!-------------------------------------------------------------------
Matt Wilson
Born: September 27, 1964I was born in the prairie town of Knoxville, Illinois September 27th 1964. I was lucky to have cool parents who encouraged me in my creative pursuits where it was music, theater, writing or weird art. I became interested in playing the drums in the third grade after seeing Buddy Rich on the Lucy Show. He was judging a local drum contest featuring Ricky Jr. a fine drummer. Inspired, I pooled together some capital and purchased some Ludwig 9a sticks at the local Byerly Music store. With sticks in hand I began exploring a wide range of suitable cookware and five gallon buckets as sound sources. Soon my parents made in investment in a used of brand snare drum drum and cymbal. My middle brother played the saxophone and we immersed in the local PTA and 4H concert circuit at a very young age. It was quite a duo, Mark with his Beuscher tenor and me with my minimalist set up of orange sparkle snare drum and 10” sheet metal cymbal. We had a book that explored all of the hits of the 60’s and 70’s. (We were serious Herb Alpert afficiandos). We even had some cool schtick: I guess times have not really changed.
I played in all of the groups in school and finally learned how to read music.I had a cool high school band director who started hiring me to play drums in his weekend dance band. I t was fun and I made some cash which was nice for an eighth grader. Soon I was playing in local groups of all kinds. A big band, very creative rock band called Common Denominator, country bands, Dixieland bands anything I could play. I was also extremely fortunate to study with a great local drummer who taught me music not just how to play fast. He was very inspirational and was very helpful in my pre paring for college.
I went to college at Wichita State University and there was exposed to one of the most influential mentors of my career, Dr. JC Combs. He is not only a fantastic percussionist but he possesses one of the most creatively fertile imaginations on the planet. We played percussion works featuring a wide array of strange components. Pinball machines, cloggers, bowlers and professional wrestlers all were standard fare. He also instilled in me a true entrepreneurial spirit. Combs always knew how to market and get folks to the concerts that were always sold out no matter how bizarre. My colleagues were equally insane and it was a inspirational environment to spend my college years.
Wichita also had a lot of great opportunities to work so I kept quite a busy schedule between working and school. Sleeping in one of the huge lecture classes was common.
I am grateful for all of the experience I gained from years in Wichita.
I am also grateful for Wichita for it is where I met my wife Felicia who was a hot shot violin major from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We met our freshman year in school and married in August of 1987. The fall of 1987 we loaded up the Ryder truck, 1984 Chevy Citation in tow and moved to Boston where she got her masters from New England Conservatory.
Boston was hopping and I took full advantage to see and play with everyone I could. I had the wonderful opportunity to play, tour and record with some great bands and musicians including the Either/Orchestra, Charlie Kohlhase Quintet, Bevan Manson, John Medeski, Dominique Eade and countless others. It was a great place to be and the many of my Boston colleagues have gone on to be some of the most influential musicians of their generation.
Two words began to echo in my brain “New York”. I knew it was time and with encouragement from folks like Cecil Mc Bee and Andrew Cyrille we decided to head south to the Big Apple. I loved the energy of the scene immediately and began playing with some amazing musicians.
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Billy Drummond
Born: June 19, 1959
”Drummond's playing exudes a wealth of jazz history along with a surprisingly adventurous approach...he arrives as one of the most promising leader-drummers in jazz,” states a recent feature article about Billy in Modern Drummer magazine. He was born in 1959 in Newport News, Virginia and began to play the drums at the age of four, influenced by his father who was also a drummer. His love affair with jazz began through his father's record collection, which included many of the classic recordings of Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Max Roach, and so on. During his youth, Billy played in various school and local bands, studying many styles of music. He then went on to college and obtained a degree in Music Performance. In early 1988, Billy arrived in New York City, looking forward to experiencing a healthier jazz scene. His first major break on the circuit was to join the young band, “Out of the Blue” (OTB), with whom he recorded on the group's final CD for Blue Note Records. Soon after, Billy joined piano master Horace Silver's Sextet and toured with them extensively.
Many of the world's greatest jazz artists have called upon Billy to tour and record with them including: Carla Bley, Sonny Rollins, Steve Kuhn Joe Henderson, J.J. Johnson, Nat Adderley, Bobby Hutcherson, Buster Williams, Lee Konitz, James Moody, Andrew Hill, Freddie Hubbard, Charles Tolliver, Sheila Jordan, Toots Thielmanns. He can be heard on more than 200 CDs in almost all genres of jazz and creative music (see discrography). Billy is most definitely in the pantheon of tasteful drummers whose musicality and finesse always contribute to a greater effect.
Currently Billy is adjunct professor of Jazz Drums at the Juilliard School of Music and at New York University, as well as teaching privately.
In addition to being one of the most sought-after sidemen, Billy Drummond has released three CDs as a leader; Native Colours, The Gift featuring such artists as Steve Nelson, Steve Wilson, Peter Washington and Seamus Blake. Jazz Times magazine said of The Gift, “the recording has a richness and total lack of cliches...imaginative, satisfying and memorable.” Dubai, his third solo release, “Drummond's nimble, pianoless quartet spins jazz on the head of a pin with stunning results.” (JazzTimes)
Dubai was voted # 1 on New York Times jazz critic Peter Watrous. The CD features the two tenors of Chris Potter and Walt Weiskopf, bassist Peter Washington as well as Billy's powerful drumming at the helm. The material is a compelling mix of originals by the leader and members of the quartet, rounded out with compositions by Dewey Redman, Pat Metheny and Billy Strayhorn. Dubai received high praise from critics, and received a four star review in Downbeat in which the author wrote, “a case has been made for Billy Drummond's new persona: one of the hippest bandleaders now at work.”
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