The innovative jazz drummer discusses the beautiful islands of Maine, approaching music with sincerity, his connection to Berlin, and experiments with solo percussion on the album Most Definitely.
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Today, the Spotlight shines On drummer and composer Devin Gray.
Like me, Devin is a born New Englander who made his way to Brooklyn, though unlike me, he splits his time between Brooklyn and Berlin.
Devin has performed with Spotlight On alumni Angelica Sanchez and Satoko Fuji, as well as a who’s who of the creative music scene: David Liebman, Sylvie Couvoisier, Tim Berne, Nate Wooley, and many others.
Our conversation ranged from Devin’s earliest exposures to music, his self-taught approach to drumming, genre divisions in music, local and regional art scenes, the different approaches to arts funding he’s encountered in the US and Europe, the appeal of creating an artistic universe of work, sincerity and authenticity, more.
Devin will be performing in Seattle in the next few days, and I hope to continue our conversation then. Enjoy.
(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Devin Gray’s album Most Definitely)
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00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:36 - Devin's roots in Maine
00:04:45 - Early musical influences
00:12:13 - Conservatory experiences
00:17:28 - New York's creative music scene
00:22:18 - Berlin connection and European arts funding
00:29:50 - "Most Definitely" project and artistic sincerity
00:37:10 - Solo drum performance and activism
00:42:07 - Recording and editing process
00:44:43 - The art of listening and ambient sounds
00:47:32 - Closing thoughts
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Visit Devin Gray at https://devingraymusic.com
Purchase Devin Gray's Most Definitely on Qobuz → https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/most-definitely-devin-gray/x0qc60uomcl5a
or Bandcamp → https://devingraymusic.bandcamp.com/album/most-definitely
and listen on Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/album/54x2nhGRMhNPOb9fGxVYR2
Follow Devin Gray on Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/rataplanrecordsnyc/
Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/devingraymusic
TikTok → https://www.tiktok.com/@devingraymusic
and YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJa6ApiWco092_ghOeiTFMg
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