Jazz Drums - Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance

Introduction

Upon joining Trinity Laban’s Jazz Department, you will enter a vibrant and dynamic community of improvisers. Though grounded in the jazz tradition, we are constantly looking forward and we invite you to draw on a wealth of diverse influences within these traditions, and reinterpret them in new ways as you find your individual voice. We will support you as you develop as a musician, an improviser and an innovative performing artist, enabling you to reach your full creative potential.

Our success in supporting students to develop their creative voices is reflected in the professional accomplishments of our graduates, who include many of London’s finest emerging jazz drummers including Shane Forbes who is a member of acclaimed jazz quartet Empirical, and Moses Boyd who won the MOBO Best Jazz Act in 2015.

Teaching

Jazz is fundamentally a collaborative music-making process, and as well as developing your individual musicianship through a generous number of one-to-one lessons, you will learn to interact and collaborate with your fellow musicians through playing in a range of ensembles and combos. Our staff, drawn from London’s exhilarating jazz scene, play and perform with students, replicating the feel of the wider jazz community.

Our distinctive and inclusive approach to improvisation ensures you will develop your creative skills to their full potential. Supporting classes include improvisation, jazz harmony, rhythm, jazz history, arranging and composition, as well as coaching, rhythm and horn sections. We celebrate the diverse global origins of jazz with opportunities to study African, Brazilian and Cuban music. All classes are practical and cover both established and emerging jazz genres and innovations.

Performance is the beating pulse of the department. You will gain extensive performance experience in our larger ensembles, from the Big Band to the Contemporary Jazz Ensemble, to the Jazz Choir, which also provide opportunities for aspiring jazz composers.

London is buzzing with hundreds of jazz gigs and venues, ensuring there is always somewhere to perform, jam or just hang out and listen. With Oliver’s Jazz Club on our doorstep in Greenwich and our regular ‘Beats in the Bar’ series at Blackheath Halls, you will never be short of somewhere to play. Our excellent relationships with jazz clubs across the capital result in regular opportunities for students and graduates to perform at exciting London venues such as Ronnie Scott’s, the Southbank Centre, the Pizza Express Jazz Club in Dean Street and The Vortex Jazz Club.