PlayJazz!

Jimmy Weinstein / drums, piano, guitar, composer

Born in Chicago, Jimmy moved with his family to California and Spain. A Berklee College of Music alumnus ’89 and leader of a consortium of New York based ensembles, Jimmy has been on the move for over 25 years, touring the US, Europe and Japan.  Major associations include recordings and tours with virtuoso improvisers, Ahmed Abdullah, Chris Cheek, Ben Monder, Satoko Fujii, Alex Harding, Jeff Parker, Oscar Noriega, Natsuki Tamura, Frank Carlberg, Elie Massias, Dan Fox, Sten Hostfalt, Masa Kamaguchi and Matt Renzi.  As a sideman he has worked supporting Sheila Jordan, Noah Preminger, Rachel Gould, Greg Burk, Marcello Tonolo and Reggie Veal.  In collaboration with Abdullah, Harding and Kamaguchi he founded the adventurous and highly acclaimed melodic quartet NAM, whose album Song of Time was voted among the top 25 all time live performances by critic Kevin Whitehead. 

As a leader, his discography contains albums released by Fresh Sound, Clean Feed, Accurate, CIMP, El Gallo Rojo and Gunther Schuller’s GM Recordings.  Among Weinstein’s current projects, is a quartet featuring the pianist extraordinaire Satoko Fujii, in addition to trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and vocalist Lilly Santon . As a teacher, Weinstein’s experience has brought forth TRAVELING SCHOOL PLAYJAZZ, an organization dedicated to conducting jazz workshops where he often performs with his students.  Jimmy’s new quintet features Chris Cheek, Ben Monder, Tom Beckham and Dave Ambrosio, all musicians who he has worked with over the past 25 years, coming together to perform Jimmy’s new compositions on his latest album "Sobrinos".  Traveling School Playjazz has been organizing the yearly jazz workshop at the acclaimed Mallorca Jazz Sa Pobla Festival since 2006.  Over the years Jimmy has coordinated workshops with leading artists including Lee Konitz, Sheila Jordan, Chris Cheek, Dennis Irwin, Matt Garrison, Noah Preminger, Dan Fox, Toni Miranda, Pedro Cortejosa, Perico Sambeat, Marco Mezquida, Paolo Porta and Carlo Cattano. 

Music on Sound Cloud