Results for "Drums & Percussion"

ISKRA

Te Whanganui-a-Tara quartet ISKRA strips away chordal instruments to focus on driving, physical grooves. Inspired by Sons of Kemet, the band fuses Afrobeat, brass house, and acoustic dance music into a driving live set.

Featuring Josh Buckler on saxophone, Simon Grove on helicon, and the dual percussion of Ato Kwamena and David McGurk.

The ability to play fully acoustic or fully electric makes ISKRA as comfortable playing DIY house parties as festival stages.

Quick Stats

Origin: Wellington, New Zealand
Genre: Dancefloor Jazz / Afrobeat / Brass-House
Lineup: Saxophone, Helicon (like a Sousaphone), Drums, Percussion
Past Festivals: CubaDupa, National Jazz Festival Tauranga, Wellington Jazz Festival
Latest Release: Debut EP ‘The New Spring (August 2026)

No-Mads

Active since: 2019

A unique take on American and European Music

The No-Mads are guitarist Ned Boynton, organist / accordionist / pianist Robert Kennedy, and often their musical guests. In 2015, Robert got the call to play organ on one of Ned’s gigs, and the two quickly discovered a shared taste for TV themes, rock anthems, hot-club tunes, Italian folk music, popular music of Europe and the Americas, novelty songs, and jazz standards.

For several years Ned and Robert freelanced on guitar and organ in each other’s groups and occasionally crossed paths as hired guns in other bands. Adding to his focus on piano and organ performance, Robert got serious about accordion in 2018, joining the nascent Mission Hot Club, where Ned occasionally subbed on guitar. An accordion / guitar collaboration was natural for Ned thanks to his long history with accordionists in Los Pinkys, Surfer Roma, and The Caffè Trieste Family Band, so the composite sound of accordion and guitar easily became the foundation of The No-Mads. Robert and Ned worked regularly together as an accordion / guitar team during 2019 and early 2020, and then…

Shmeisani Jazz Massive

Active since: 2025

Shmeisani Jazz Massive (SJM) is an Amman-based contemporary jazz collective featuring Azar (drums), John (bass), Omar (keys), and Archie (guitar).

The project brings together musicians shaped by decades of listening across jazz, groove, and experimental music, united through a shared commitment to collective improvisation. Their self-titled debut album was recorded during the group’s first sessions together, capturing the emergence of a musical language in real time.

Recorded in a basement studio in Shmeisani, one of Amman’s most distinctive artistic neighborhoods, the album is rooted in place, immediacy, and interaction. The result is a sound that moves between groove, atmosphere, and tension — contemporary jazz built on ensemble intuition rather than fixed structure.

Jackson Hillmer

Born: June 16, 1992

Jackson Frye Hillmer is a drummer, songwriter, and educator who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he developed a deep love of music. He began his journey learning the trumpet and eagerly picked up the tuba and drum set soon after to perform with the Redwood High School jazz and symphonic band. He had the opportunity and good fortune to study with John Mattern (Redwood High School), Alan Hall (Cirque Du Soleil), Jeff Masanari (SF Symphony), and Chris Amberger (Janis Joplin, Rahsaan Roland Kirk). As a member in his early jazz groups, he opened for vocalist Kenny Washington, and played frequent local festivals & weekly gigs. Jackson started teaching drum lessons to beginner students when he was in high school and has continued to teach throughout his music career.

David J. L. Guy

Born: May 23, 1994

David Guy is a Danish/French drummer. When he turned 18 he moved to New York City to study at the Collective School of Music under tutelage of great mentors and musicians like Peter Retzlaff, Ian Froman, Vince Cherico, Adriano Santos, Jason Gianni, Marko Djordjevic, Sean Conly, Bob Quaranta.

Since 2017 David has been in Europe, working mainly in Berlin, playing with a variety of groups in jazz and has also been working in an array of different styles. Rock, Blues, Funk, Soul, Brazilian and Afro-Cuban musicstyles are all genres which he enjoy to parttake in. Additionally, he collaborated with two dancers and composed a one-take percussion-piece for dance, that was shown at Soundance Festival Berlin.

Alex Kautz

Renowned for his musicality, elegance and versatility, Alex Kautz stands out as a distinguished percussionist, educator, and composer. With an unwavering passion for jazz and world music, he has crafted a captivating and distinct musical voice and unique artistic expression.

Alex has been an important part of the NY competitive music scene for the last decade and has played and/or recorded with some of the top artists in the industry today including Tim Ries, Magos Herrera, Nilson Matta, Chico Pinheiro, Steve Willson, Lenny Andrade, Fabio Gouvea, Helio Alves, Victor Prieto, Robert Rodriguez and Michael Rodriguez among others.

Maria Karathanasopoulou

Frank Botos

Born: May 4, 1970

Born into a musical family, Frank became a first call drummer in Hungary at an early age. He worked and recorded with Hungary’s most well known musicians including Szakcsi, Tony Lakatos, Robert Lakatos, Gabor Gado. Frank studied at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music with Gyula Kovacs and Ivan Nesztor. After leaving the school in 1991, Frank won first place in the “Krakow International Jazz Competition” in Poland. He has played on the main stages of European jazz festivals. In 1998 Frank Botos immigrated to Canada. Shortly after arriving in Canada with his brother Robi Botos, (winner of the “Montreux Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition 2005″), Frank and Robi became well established in the Toronto jazz scene as “The Botos Brothers”

Greg Fundis

Born: September 25, 1977

Greg Fundis is an American drummer based in Chicago IL with a career in music performance, recording and education spanning over three decades.  Fundis’ jazz group, the Greg Fundis Quintet appeared at the 2025 Chicago Jazz Festival. Most recently, Greg Fundis placed in the top 20 out of 10,000 drummers in a worldwide drumming competition receiving an honorable mention from Grammy-nominated band Primus.  He is a founding member of 56 Hope Road, an award-winning acoustic funk band who independently produced four full length albums and performed over 1500 live shows nationwide. Fundis is a frequent collaborator with Blue Note Records artist Fareed Haque playing drums on 7 of his albums as well as touring throughout the US and abroad

Massimo de Majo

Born: July 8, 1957

"Drummer Massimo de Majo would have little difficulty measuring up to New York's best." Scott Yanow

Massimo de Majo is a percussionist, an educator, and probably one of the most well-kept secrets in European Jazz. Never indulging in self-promotion, Massimo has often taken directions that have radically changed his career, so - while not widely known by the general public - he's highly regarded by his peers as a true artist and "a musicians' musician".

Italian, born in Rome in 1957, he has spent most of his career abroad, performing with some of the most influential jazz artists in Europe, the U.S.A., Scandinavia, and Japan. During the last thirty years, focusing mostly on performing and teaching, Massimo has also composed for theatre, contemporary dance, video, sound design, and installation art.