Working Drummer

In today’s music landscape, Kevin Kanner is a rare breed of drummer; focused intently and passionately on straight-ahead jazz. While many of his generation have looked for ways to widen the scope of the drumset and the role of the drummer, and cross breed jazz with other genres, Kevin’s musical ambition has remained simple and singular: to swing. Like his heroes, Philly Joe Jones, Mickey Roker, his fellow West Coast jazzer Shelly Manne, and his mentor Jeff Hamilton, Kevin brings a fiery but concentrated intensity to the music. This “dyed-in-the-wool” identity has become his calling card and is the reason he has been sought after by the likes of John Pizzarelli, Eric Reed, Walter Smith III, Terrell Stafford, Gerald Clayton, and many more of the best in the current jazz world. Kevin is based in his hometown of Los Angeles, which has a rich jazz history of its own. What it has historically lacked in Kevin’s estimation, is a place for the straight-ahead, take-no-prisoners, small-group, instrumental jazz to which