One of the most respected drummers in jazz today, Herlin Riley came up in the New Orleans tradition and refined his craft in Wynton Marsalis's band, where he spent years developing a voice that is simultaneously steeped in the city's rhythmic heritage and thoroughly modern.
Biography
Born in New Orleans and raised in a deeply musical family — his uncle was the great drummer James Black — Riley absorbed the city's musical language from childhood. After years as a first-call sideman for Marsalis and Ahmad Jamal, he has increasingly led his own projects, revealing a compositional voice as sophisticated as his drumming. He remains one of jazz's great rhythmic storytellers.
Discography
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