Born: April 27, 1989 Primary Instrument: Drums
Born in Sutton, South London, JJ Wheeler grew up being influenced by his parents varied choices of music, ranging from Gospel to 70s/80s Progressive Rock to M.O.R. music. Under the guidance of session supremo Mark Claydon (Liberty-X, Gene Drayton Unit, The Getup), JJ learned to 'play the groove' and play appropriate to the music from the age of 8. from the age of 10 he was already being placed in older age groups county bands due to his excelling ability. In 2000, a family relocation to Harrogate, North Yorkshire, meant a new teacher - Cherry Bratkowski. In Yorkshire JJ learned to play all different types of music and took every opportunity to play in Rock Bands, Jazz Bands, Gospel Worship Groups, Orchestras and Musicals among other live situations. He soon made a name for himself as a confident, exciting young drummer, winning music competitions such as the Harrogate International Young Musician of the Year several times from the age of 15. He soon moved on to learn from Paul Smith, a highly regarded session/jazz drummer with lots of valuable experience and knowledge to pass on. Under Paul's guidance JJ continued to grow musically, and started to study Jazz in depth, gaining entry to the Birmingham Conservatoire of Music in 2006 to study on the BMus Jazz Performance course, where he currently studies with Drum legends such as Jeff Williams, Tony Levin and Gene Calderazzo, as well as other instrumentalists such as Dave Holland, Liam Noble, Julian Siegel and Hans Koller.
Last Updated: August 14, 2009
”the 19-year-old Wheeler got a fantastic grasp of melody, always going directly
for the hook, but a sophisticated ear for arrangements and delivery”
“Like light slowly appearing through dark clouds, it's really obvious and really
brilliant at the same time and you can imagine it being a genuine hit in the
States at least.”
-(both) Graham Chalmers, www.modernmusicreview.com
Primary Instrument:
Drums
Location:
Knaresborough, North Yorkshire
Willing to teach:
Intermediate to advanced students
Credentials/Background:
4 years valuable teaching experience. Taken pupils from grade 1 to grade 8 level
in just over 2 years. Also had experience teaching people with visual
impairments and learning difficulties.
£20 p/h. Half-hour lessons available.
Sorry, no recommendations at this time.
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