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Steven Franklin McGill

Drumming all my Life!

About Me

I began early while living in East Palo Alto, California my teacher was Nathan Robinson aka The Witch Doctor so called for the spell he put on people when he played. He introduced me to the Conga Drum. After graduating San Jose State College in 1972 I moved to Washington D.C. where I became a member of The African Cultural Dancers and Drummers led by Baba Ingoma aka The Father of the Drum. Baba taught me Afro-Cuban style drumming on Congas Bongo Drums, Timbales, Shekeree, Claves, Cow Bells and many other instruments. It was Baba who told me that if I wanted to be a musician I needed to learn to play the Vibraphone. 1975 I left D.C. for London, England where I worked in a Steele band and while playing for tips in the subway wound up with a band playing upstairs at Ronnie Scott’s. I left London for Paris, France where I played with various musicians before deciding to see Madrid, Spain which led to my move to Los Angeles in 1976. Various musical situations eventually led me to buy a Xylophone, take private lessons learn to read and write music and form my own band The Steven McGill Project . Hear what we do at stevenmcgillproject.com or Pandora Radio by running in The Steven McGill Project Radio where you’ll hear the best in Latin Jazz!

My Jazz Story

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