Herlin Riley

MASTER DRUMMER

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©photo by James Wighams JWP Studio

About Me

Since coming of age in the nurturing environment of a very musical family and a distinguished bloodline of drummers, New Orleans native Herlin Riley emerged from that most creative era of all things rhythmic in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, to enliven the ensembles of such influential and demanding improvisers as pianist Ahmad Jamal and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis through his commanding yet elegant rhythmic presence.

FAN'S VIEWS

What Fans Says About Me

I can’t remember the first time I heard Herlin Riley play the drums. Maybe it’s because his is a sound that’s timeless – a sound that has at its foundation the various musical styles that make the New Orleans sound so unique. It’s gospel; it’s the blues; it’s the sound of celebration, the sound of life. I can certainly recall a countless number of times marveling at how so much sound, so much life, could come from the drum. If the body needs a pulse to be considered alive, then music too needs its pulse. Herlin Riley is at the heart of this music – he is its pulse; he is its soul.

Tod A. Smith