John Bishop
“One can hear many influences in Bishop’s playing, including more than a touch of Elvin, but he is clearly an original voice…” - Percussive Notes As a drummer, educator, record label owner, graphic designer, publisher, and festival presenter, John Bishop has been one of the primary voices in Northwest Jazz for 40 years. He has performed in concerts and clubs with Lee Konitz, Slide Hampton, Benny Golson, George Cables, Bobby McFerrin, Jack Sheldon, Bobby Hutcherson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Sonny Fortune, Herb Ellis, Buddy DeFranco, Jerry Bergonzi, Carla Bley, Ernestine Anderson, Larry Coryell, and countless others. He’s appeared on more than 100 albums, and was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame in 2008, and named a "Jazz Hero" by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2019. In 1997, Bishop started the jazz label Origin Records (named Jazzweek’s 2009 “Label Of The Year”) and OriginArts, a graphic design & CD production company, to help further the exposure of creative artists and their music. In partnership with his ex-drum student, Matt Jorgensen, they have released over 750 recordings by 370 artists from around the world. In 2002 they added another jazz label, OA2 Records, a classical imprint, Origin Classical in 2008, and in 2003 began Seattle’s annual 4-day Ballard Jazz Festival. Bishop has designed over 800 CD packages and multiple book covers, banners, posters, and other graphics for clients around the globe. He was on the PNW chapter Board of Governors of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and annually takes part in multiple music conferences & events, including MIDEM (Cannes), the Grammys, JazzConnect (NYC), JazzWeek (San Jose), NAMM, PASIC, and JazzAhead (Bremen). Along with bassist Jeff Johnson, Bishop has been a member of New York pianist Hal Galper’s Trio for over a decade. In 2018, with the release of their 6th recording, “Cubist,” they’ve expanded to a quartet with the addition of master saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi. They also perform with Spanish pianist Chano Dominguez, and are members of the collective 15-year-old trio “Scenes” with guitarist John Stowell. Bishop has also been with the Chad McCullough / Bram Weijters Group, a Belgian/American project, since 2010. They've recorded 4 albums and tour Belgium annually. Born in Seattle and raised in Germany, Washington, DC, San Antonio and Eugene, Bishop started playing drums at 9 in Washington, DC with the Patriots drum corp. He played in multiple bands throughout jr. high, high school and college, attending the University of Oregon and North Texas State University.
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Album Review
- Scenes by Dave Nathan
- Nothing if Not Something by Dan McClenaghan
Profile
Read more articlesDecember 20, 2021
Celebrating Origin Records at All About Jazz
April 05, 2014
Jazz Musician of the Day: John Bishop
April 05, 2013
Jazz Musician of the Day: John Bishop
April 05, 2012
Jazz Musician of the Day: John Bishop
April 05, 2011
Jazz Musician of the Day: John Bishop
February 23, 2010
Hal Galper, Jeff Johnson and John Bishop Play Birdland in NYC Tuesday...
"Deft-limbed, wildly eclectic, and renowned for his sympathetic ear, Seattle drummer John Bishop is a veritable jazz-renaissance man who, besides founding his own label (Origin Records), has supported legends such as Bobby McFerrin, Carla Bley, and Slide Hampton." -Bumbershoot Festival Guide "On this adventurous, open-ended trio outing, the Seattle-based drummer and founder of Origin Records forges an extraordinary, freewheeling chemistry with kindred spirits Jeff Johnson on bass and Rick Mandyck on alto sax. A ubiquitous figure on the northwest jazz scene, Bishop's first recording under his own name runs the gamut of dynamics from a spacious, hymnlike cover of Curtis Lundy's "Orange Blossom," underscored by Bishop's ultrasensitive brushwork, to an off-kilter funk number, Johnson's "Hurt Brothers," fueled by the drummer's insistent, slamming backbeats." -BILL MILKOWSKI (JazzTimes Review of "Nothing if Not Something") “The New Stories trio is likewise nothing less than extraordinary
Primary Instrument
Drums
Location
Seattle
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Private teaching for 35 years. Former faculty at the University of Washington.
Photos
Upcoming
Albums
Rücksichtslos
From: AntwerpBy John Bishop
Mississippi 1955 Confessional
From: Caught in the RhythmBy John Bishop
Tilbury Hill
From: Variable Clouds: Live at the...By John Bishop
Against Silence
From: The Poets Are GatheringBy John Bishop
Suspension
From: Trip the Light FantasticBy John Bishop
The Edge
From: Humble OriginsBy John Bishop
Three French Nuns
From: Silent PhotographerBy John Bishop
All Day Pass
From: Nothing if Not SomethingBy John Bishop