Skip Walker

Skip Walker is a drummer, composer, producer, educator, and Episcopal Priest. He is a graduate of Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music (the world’s foremost institution for the study of Jazz and modern American music) where he studied with renown drummers John Ramsay, Skip Hadden, and Ed Uribe.

Skip got his first break at the age seventeen touring Europe as the drummer for the New York based funk group “The Fatback Band,” but after hearing great jazz drummers such as Art Blakey, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Elvin Jones and Tony Williams, Skip slowly began falling in love with Jazz. According to Skip, “although I started out being heavily in to R&B/Funk music, the more I listened to Jazz and studied Jazz History, the more I realized that this music is American History with its roots firmly planted in the African American struggle for identity, freedom and justice – I had to get into this music.”

Skip's latest release is entitled "Tina’s Contemplation: A Reflection on the Genius of Tina Brooks." It is a jazz piano trio tribute to the late tenor saxophonist/Blue Note recording artist Harold “Tina” Brooks. Brooks is arguably one of the Jazz worlds most underrated artists and composers. On this project, Walker aims to sonically rediscover and reinterpret the genius of Tina Brooks with a few of the artist’s landmark compositions and a few original compositions dedicated to Brooks. The project features the seasoned playing of pianist Travis Shook (Betty Carter) and bassist Essiet Okon Essiet (Kenny Garrett/Bobbly Watson/Mulgrew Miller).

Tags