Marcus Gilmore

Marcus Gilmore is a multi-Grammy award winning drummer, composer, producer, and educator.

The New York based musician has been recognized with numerous awards, residencies, and fellowships - including becoming a 2018 - 2019 Protege in the Annual Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.

Gilmore, in all his playing, integrates a unique style where he is musically expanding rhythm, while supporting the great musicians with whom he plays. He has had the distinct privilege of performing/recording with Mulatu Astatke, Chick Corea, Pharoah Sanders, Savion Glover, Pat Metheny, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gonzalo Rubalcaba ,Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Common, Flying Lotus, Robert Glasper, Natalie Cole, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Derrick Hodge, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, Thundercat, Brad Mehldau, Cassandra Wilson, Nicholas Payton, Jill Scott, Talib Kweli, Queen Latifah, Norah Jones, Black Thought, Zakir Hussain, The Cadillacs, Bilal, Terrence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Terrace Martin, Taylor Mcferrin, and Fred Armisen.

Marcus was featured on the cover of Modern Drummer Magazine for their June 2019 issue.

He was chosen as a primary artist to contribute to the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, for the 2020 Oscar Award Winning Disney-Pixar film, “Soul”.

He was also commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra to write his first Orchestral work which debuted in 2020 with members of the Cape Town Philharmonic. In June 2023, Marcus premiered his full composition with the American Composers Orchestra, in NYC.

Marcus' debut album, "Journey to the New: Live at the Village Vanguard" received the number one position on The New York Times Best Jazz Albums of 2025 list.

With 23 years as a professional musician and performances in over 60 countries throughout his career – Marcus is just getting started.

Upcoming projects include: the release of his highly anticipated debut album, his innovative Marcus Gilmore Solo, Trio, and Quintet engagements, and the continued exploration of percussion with new sound compositions and rhythms thrilling music audiences worldwide.

Awards

Multi-Grammy Award Winner

2018 - 2019 Protege in the Annual Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative

Marcus Gilmore's debut album, "Journey to the New: Live at the Village Vanguard" received the number one position on The New York Times Best Jazz Albums of 2025 list.

Dave Adewumi: The Flame Beneath the Silence

Read "The Flame Beneath the Silence" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
March 31, 2026

Di origini nigeriane e cresciuto nel New Hampshire prima di trasferirsi a New York, il giovane e talentuoso trombettista Dave Adewumi ha studiato e collaborato nel corso degli anni con musicisti del calibro di Ralph Alessi, Ran Blake, Frank Carlberg e svariati altri, il che gli ha consentito di arrivare a questo che è il primo album a suo nome sufficientemente scafato per affrontare la prova, dieci brani tutti a sua firma ripresi dal vivo nel luglio 2024, con le ...

Album Review

Dave Adewumi: The Flame Beneath the Silence

Read "The Flame Beneath the Silence" reviewed by Andrew Schinder

by Andrew Schinder
March 6, 2026

Dave Adewumi has established himself as the next great talent in jazz trumpet. Born in New Hampshire to Nigerian immigrants, Adewumi is wizened in voice beyond his age. Having studied at both Harvard and Julliard, Adewumi went on to collaborate with such luminaries as pianist Jason Moran and trumpeter Dave Douglas (in Douglas' acclaimed Dizzy Gillespie tribute project Dizzy Atmosphere), and he has since joined star guitarist Mary Halvorson's exciting quartet project Canis Major. The trumpeter is releasing his debut ...

Album Review

Jakob Bro, Wadada Leo Smith & Marcus Gilmore: Murasaki

Read "Murasaki" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
March 2, 2026

Jakob Bro è un chitarrista danese con ormai venti album da leader alle spalle, vanta frequentazioni eccellenti--Bill Frisell, Lee Konitz, Kenny Wheeler, Paul Bley, Paul Motian per citarne alcuni--e anche in quest'ultimo lavoro per la sua etichetta Loveland la compagnia è di quelle che contano. Marcus Gilmore è batterista ormai consacrato ai massimi livelli e Wadada Leo Smith è una leggenda della musica afroamericana. I tre si danno appuntamento alla Power Station di New York l'undici gennaio del 2025 e ...

Radio & Podcasts

Two from the Times, Two from the Bastards

by Patrick Burnette
February 19, 2026

It's episode two of three covering the New York Times list of Top Ten 2025 jazz albums, and since we generally cover four albums a show, and the Times only picked 10 for their top 10 list, we add a couple of our own picks to this “middle" episode to make the math work. We've got a drummer led live date that sounds studio bound, a duet veering towards new age, a bizarre and challenging disc from a long-running Underground ...

Album Review

Nels Cline: Trio Of Bloom

Read "Trio Of Bloom" reviewed by Vic Albani

by Vic Albani
September 22, 2025

La straordinaria etichetta Pyroclastic Records, guidata da Kris Davis, aggiunge un altro gioiello alla sua collezione di incisioni di questo primo decennio di attività. Protagonista questa volta è un trio d'eccezione: Craig Taborn, Nels Cline e Marcus Gilmore. L'idea nasce dal produttore e poeta David Breskin, mente creativa dietro l'etichetta e collaboratore di lunga data dei tre musicisti. Nonostante Taborn, Cline e Gilmore abbiano suonato insieme solo sporadicamente, Breskin ha intuito il potenziale della loro unione, e non ...

Album Review

Craig Taborn / Nels Cline / Marcus Gilmore: Trio Of Bloom

Read "Trio Of Bloom" reviewed by Jack Kenny

by Jack Kenny
September 16, 2025

The concept of a musical “supergroup" is hardly new. It could be argued that Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie's assembly at Massey Hall in 1953 was an early example. This legendary bebop concert, despite the undeniable talent on stage, famously showcased clashing egos, particularly with a less-than-healthy Bud Powell. Charles Mingus even had to re-record his bass lines to ensure his contribution was heard in the final mix. Even earlier, Louis Armstrong's Hot Five and Hot Seven unequivocally ...

Album Review

Craig Taborn / Nels Cline / Marcus Gilmore: Trio Of Bloom

Read "Trio Of Bloom" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
September 15, 2025

Maelstroms come and maelstroms go, but the maelstrom generated by a pumped-up Marcus Gilmore on Ronald Shannon Jackson's “Nightwhistlers," the concussive kicker that jump-starts Trio of Bloom, holds its storm-warning, jazz-rocking, course. That guitarist Nels Cline--cranked by the spirit of Jimi Hendrix via Bill Frisell circa late '87; and keyboardist Craig Taborn (himself a modern acolyte of Horace Silver and John Cage) add their key signatures makes for a hell of an opener. One not soon forgotten. Taborn's ...

Music Industry

Bianca Love Releases 'Time (Reprise)' Ft. Marcus Gilmore, The Highly Anticipated Follow-Up To Her Debut Hit

Source: Bianca Love
October 10, 2023

After the tremendous success of her last single, “Time,” Bianca Love is back with her latest masterpiece, “Time (Reprise)" featuring the renowned drummer Marcus Gilmore. This captivating release marks a significant moment in the career of the talented singer and multi-instrumentalist hailing from New Orleans and now residing in NYC, who is rapidly gaining recognition in the music world. “Time (Reprise)" is a sonic journey that transcends boundaries, inviting listeners to immerse themselves in a melancholic, yet hopeful and energetic ...
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Recording

GPS2: "Orange Afternoons" - Dave Douglas, Ravi Coltrane, Vijay Iyer, Linda Oh, Marcus Gilmore

Source: Dave Douglas / Greenleaf Music
August 31, 2011

New music for a special quintet, GPS2: Orange Afternoons with Dave Douglas, Ravi Coltrane, Vijay Iyer, Linda Oh, and Marcus Gilmore. Tracklist:

The Gulf 9:01Valori Bollati 7:22Solato 8:18Orologi 11:38Orange Afternoons 8:24Frontier Justice 4:13

Orange Afternoons is the second volume in the Greenleaf Portable Series. The GPS is a nod to the shorter, more informal sessions that were for many years the backbone of jazz recording. The series also explores new formats for music to be released and distributed, as well ...
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Performance / Tour

Dekel Bor Trio featuring Francois Moutin & Marcus Gilmore tonight at LOUIS

Source: All About Jazz
November 9, 2006

The Dekel Bor Trio will be performing tonight Thurs. Nov. 9th at

Louis 649 E9th st. corner of Ave. C 9pm-12am

No cover

Dekel Bor - Guitars Francois Moutin - Bass Marcus Gilmore - Drums

“Dekel Bor's evocative live guitar playing ... a fresh taste in music"--John Rockwell, New York Times

The Dekel Bor trio is one one of the most prominent and visible groups of the New York jazz scene. At ...
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In 2009, New York Times critic Ben Ratliff included Gilmore in his list of drummers who are "finding new ways to look at the drum set, and at jazz itself", saying, "he created that pleasant citywide buzz when someone new and special blows through New York clubs and jam sessions".

"It’s hard to think of an under-40 drummer who manifests experimental imperatives and idiomatic mastery of a global array of rhythmic codes and admixtured dialects — call it Afro-Cuban meets Carnatic meets North African meets second line meets swing — more elegantly, efficaciously and bodaciously than Marcus Gilmore."