Billy Drummond and Freedom of Ideas at The Side Door

Acclaimed by Downbeat as “one of the hippest bandleaders now at work,” Billy Drummond’s thrilling, powerful, and highly musical playing has also made him one of the most called-for sidemen of his generation. Mentored in the bands of jazz legends Horace Silver, Joe Henderson, Bobby Hutcherson, J.J. Johnson, and Sonny Rollins, Drummond is now widely acknowledged as one of today’s most versatile drummers, making sideman appearances with a veritable who’s who of jazz greats on over 350 albums.

“The sound of a musician fully engaged, hearing and reacting to everything happening around him.”— Kevin Whitehead, NPR Fresh Air

He has made four albums as a leader—including Dubai, a New York Times Number 1 Jazz Album of the Year—and his 2022 release, Valse Sinistre (Cellar Live), which was named, among other accolades, Number 3 on the Top 40 Albums of 2022 by JazzTimes, and was a Downbeat Best Album of 2022. His five albums as a co-leader include We’ll Be Together Again with Javon Jackson and legendary bassist Ron Carter, which made several Top Ten lists of the Year. Modern Drummer magazine recently honored Dubai as one of the 50 Crucial Jazz Drumming Recordings of the Past 100 Years—“distilling to only 50, a century’s worth of drumming on jazz recordings, which by any reasonable guess would comprise tens if not hundreds of thousands of titles.”