Willie Green III is a drummer and composer from LaPlace, Louisiana, now based in New Orleans. His interest in drums began playing gospel music in his father's church as a child, with his uncle Walter serving as his first drum teacher from age five to seventeen, teaching him to play in the pocket and keep the groove through a song. His first experience playing music outside of church came in his school marching band.
Green moved to New Orleans in 2011 to attend Loyola University, where he had the opportunity to study with some of the city's top drummers, including Herlin Riley. He joined Delfeayo Marsalis' Uptown Jazz Orchestra as their drummer during his junior year, an experience that, combined with his studies, inspired him to form his own group, the Willie Green Project. As a professional musician, he has also toured as part of Betty Shirley's band and played alongside Ellis Marsalis.
The Willie Green Project is a modern jazz quartet, sometimes performing as a trio, drawing on influences including John Coltrane, Stravinsky, Nicholas Payton, and Louis Armstrong. The band has toured extensively through Texas and the Southwest, including New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado, with a mission that goes beyond performance: bringing people together through live music, sharing original stories through original compositions, and educating the next generation of musicians in the culture of modern New Orleans music. In recent years, Green has taken up composition in earnest, a decision he's described as bringing both challenges and real joy.
