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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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"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

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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

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Caught in the Rhythm

Origin Records
2023

buy

Antwerp

Origin Records
2023

buy

Live at Boxley’s

Records DK
2022

buy

Variable Clouds: Live...

Origin Records
2022

buy

Trapeze

Origin Records
2020

buy

The Poets Are...

Origin Records
2020

buy

Rücksichtslos

From: Antwerp
By John Bishop

Mississippi 1955 Confessional

From: Caught in the Rhythm
By John Bishop

Tilbury Hill

From: Variable Clouds: Live at the...
By John Bishop

Against Silence

From: The Poets Are Gathering
By John Bishop

Suspension

From: Trip the Light Fantastic
By John Bishop

The Edge

From: Humble Origins
By John Bishop

Three French Nuns

From: Silent Photographer
By John Bishop

All Day Pass

From: Nothing if Not Something
By John Bishop

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