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Devin Drobka

Devin Drobka, drummer, composer and educator has been playing drums for the past 20 years. Devin is currently one of the most in-demand Performers and Educators in the Midwest.

Devin decided to further his education and applied to the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Devin received his BMA in Jazz Drumming Performance from Berklee College of Music in 09' where he had the chance to study with Terri Lynn Carrington, Bob Tamigni, Skip Hadden, Jamey Haddad, Kenwood Dennard, Jon Hazilla, Ralph Peterson Jr, Ian Froman, and the master drummer Bob Moses. While at Berklee Devin performed with legends of the Jazz world such as Joe Lovano, Jerry Bergonzi, Greg Osby, Cecil McBee, Dave Santoro, Ed Tomassi, and Phil Grenadier.

While in Devin's last year at Berklee he was asked to play drums in the world famous Jerry Bergonzi Quartet which featured Phil Grenadier on Trumpet, Bruce Barth on Piano and Dave Santoro on Bass.

Devin moved to New York in 2010 to further his musical knowledge. While in New York he performed at Kitano's, Douglass St. Music Collective, Sycamore, Setai, Way Station, Branded Saloon, Barbes, and the Shapeshifter lab.

Devin has performed at the Tanglewood Jazz Fest, Eastside Jazz Fest, and Salem Jazz Fest, CMJ Festival NY.

Devin has performed with with Bruce Barth, Jeff Parker, Jeremy Pelt, Russ Johnson, Johannes Wallmann, Dayna Stephens, Dave Miller, John Tate, Jerry Bergonzi, Tony Malaby, Joe Solomon, Dave Santoro, Mario Pavone, Matt Wilson, Tadataka Unno, Dan Tepfer, Josh Berman, Joe Martin, Tom Chang, Chris Tordini, Lena Bloch, Kyle Wilson, Ben Wendall, Jorge Roeder, Dan Blake, Tyler Blanton, Dmitry Ishenko, Sean Conly, Melissa Aldana, Will Slater, Joe Lovano, Dayna Stephens, and Dennis Carroll.

Devin moved back to Milwaukee, WI in 2013 and quickly established himself as a go-to educator. Currently, Devin teaches out of his under the Devin Drobka Drum Studio. Devin is also teaching drumset and helping coach the combos at UW-Whitewater.

In 2015 Devin began recording for the Hal Leonard Corporation. Devin is playing drums on the Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Trumpet Ballads play along series.

Devin is also the founder of UnrehearsedMKE which is one of the longest-running local improvised music series.

You can catch Devin performing with his group Bell Dance Songs, Field Report, Lesser Lakes Trio, Johannes Wallamann Group, Paul Silbergliet Trio, Dim Lighting, Argopelter, Lady Cannon, Dave Miller, John Christensen's Atlas, Soft Alarm and Many others.

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17

Album Review

Arman Sangalang: Waypoints

Read "Waypoints" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Waypoints, the second recording by Chicago-based tenor saxophonist Arman Sangalang's quartet, continues on a path similar to his first, Arman Sangalang Quartet (Calligram, 2023), leaning on original compositions and closing with a perennially popular standard, Johnny Green's “Body & Soul." Sangalang is a splendid player, blending a strong and persuasive solo voice with precise technique and a bright and pleasing sound. His teammates are similarly adept, lending Sangalang solid and dependable support. The compositional highlight of the program ...

6

Album Review

Arman Sangalang: Waypoints

Read "Waypoints" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


Saxophonist Arman Sangalang released his debut record, Quartet (Calligram Records) in 2023. It was a smoldering sax-and-a-rhythm-section quartet outing that sounded surprisingly fresh for a first recording effort. His follow-up, Waypoints, employs the same format, switching out bassist Matt Ulery for Ethan Philion, while keeping guitarist Dave Miller and drummer Devin Drobka. The sophomore effort careens toward expanded freedom, boldly. “I wanted to give them [his quartet cohorts] the freedom to do what they wanted with the music," ...

5

Album Review

Paul Silbergleit Trio: The Stillness of July

Read "The Stillness of July" reviewed by Troy Dostert


With four previous releases under his belt, guitarist Paul Silbergleit has been a steady presence in the Milwaukee jazz scene since his debut record, Silberglicity, appeared in 1996. But The Stillness of July is his first outing complemented by bassist Clay Schaub and drummer Devin Drobka. This fine trio provides a lithe treatment of several Silbergleit originals and a few well-chosen standards, giving Silbergleit his best opportunity yet to showcase his talents. With a commitment to technical precision ...

68

Album Review

Kenny Reichert: Live in Chicago

Read "Live in Chicago" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


Kenny Reichert has been steadily building his reputation within the modern jazz world, and Live in Chicago stands as perhaps his most revealing statement to date. Recorded at Pro Musica with a hand-picked quartet featuring alto saxophonist Lenard Simpson, bassist Ethan Philion, and drummer Devin Drobka, this five-track collection captures something increasingly rare in contemporary jazz recordings: genuine, unvarnished spontaneity within a live setting. What is immediately striking about this record is its commitment to expansiveness. Each of ...

7

Album Review

Paul Dietrich's Elemental Quartet: A Small Patch of Earth

Read "A Small Patch of Earth" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Anyone who spends much time watching contemporary instrumentalists on the internet is bound to come away impressed. Modern players, it sometimes seems, can do just about anything. And that is particularly true of some instruments in the brass family, where the advances in technique and range over just a half-century are particularly impressive. There are many trumpet athletes, able to leap impossible intervals in a single bound and circular breathe their way smoothly through half a concerto and generally play ...

8

Album Review

Kenny Reichert: Switch

Read "Switch" reviewed by Mark Corroto


Chicago guitarist Kenny Reichert works extremely hard to make his sound come across as casual on Switch. If you do not count the numerous discs with his partner Sara d'Ippolito Reichert, this is his third release as a leader. It follows Deep Breath (Shifting Paradigm Records, 2023) and returning from that previous outing are vocalist Alyssa Allgood and drummer Devin Drobka. Anchored by the rock steady pulse of bassist Ethan Philion, the title track opens with Reichert and ...

26

Album Review

Precarious Towers: Ten Stories

Read "Ten Stories" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Precarious Towers is a Midwestern-based quintet whose second recording, Ten Stories, is as bare-bones an album as one could imagine: a plain CD (without name or artwork) resting in a pale-blue jacket (no tray or protective sleeve) that includes a list of songs, composers and personnel plus recording details. That's it. From a reviewer's point of view, however, such cosmetic details are irrelevant, as the only component that matters is the music itself. Judged solely on that ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Live in Chicago

Shifting Paradigm Records
2026

buy

The Stillness of July

Calligram Records
2026

buy

Waypoints

Calligram Records
2026

buy

Colours

Calligram Records
2026

buy

Switch

Calligram Records
2024

buy

A Small Patch of Earth

Shifting Paradigm Records
2024

buy

Slide

From: A Small Patch of Earth
By Devin Drobka

Deep Moraine

From: Dave Miller
By Devin Drobka

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