The New York jazz scene is awash with talent and appears to be more influential and exciting than ever. One of the figureheads of the younger generation is Kassa Overall, who has influenced the sound of the Big Apple as a drummer, MC, producer, composer, and vocalist. Mixing avant-garde, hip hop and jazz, he displays his diverse background as a musician who is influenced by indie rock, post-bop, West Coast G-funk and New York underground. Over past two decades, he has worked with a wide range of artists like Christian McBride, Das Racist, Donald Byrd, Mayer Hawthorne and Yoko Ono. Overall is an ambitious and fervently experimenting artist who has a background in classical jazz. Because if you learn to play drums from renowned teachers like Billy Hart and Elvin Jones, you will always remain interested in the rich history of traditional jazz while still keeping an eye on the future.
