Douglas Marriner
Drums
Bio
Douglas Marriner is a jazz drummer, composer and educator currently based in New York City.
He has appeared with many of today’s prominent artists at venues that include Smalls Jazz Club with Shai Maestro, a residency at The 55 Bar in Greenwich Village as a member of the Doug Wamble Trio, Birdland Jazz Club with Donny McCaslin, Gary Versace and Steve Wilson, and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club with the Nate Sparks Big Band as part of the Essentially Ellington festival. Both in and out of New York, Douglas has shared the stage with some of the world’s most recognized jazz artists, including the GRAMMY® award-winning group Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks, Makoto Ozone, Shai Maestro, Beka Gochiashvili, David Ostwald's Louis Armstrong Eternity Project, Rodney Jones and Cecile McLorin Salvant.
His international work has involved concerts in North and South America, European festivals in Italy, London, Sardinia, and Switzerland and also to Japan to open the Tokyo Jazz Festival with Makoto Ozone. In the studio, Douglas’s recent recording work includes collaborations with Donny McCaslin, Steve Wilson, Patrick Cornelius and Ben Monder as recently featured on Newvelle Records’ tribute to the late pianist and composer, Frank Kimbrough.
In 2019, his recording of Derek Bermel's Migrations Series (Naxos American Classics) with the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and Albany Symphony Orchestra (commissioned by Wynton Marsalis) was nominated for the 2020 GRAMMY award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition.
Douglas has given masterclasses to musicians around the globe, coaching small and large ensembles, rhythm sections, drummers and percussion ensembles. On behalf of The Juilliard School, he has taught masterclasses at Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Torino, Italy, Escola de Musica do Estado de Sao Paulo, Brazil and Kunitachi College of Music, Tokyo, Japan. In addition to this work he has coached ensembles both at The Colburn School in Los Angeles and as part of the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival, California.
Douglas is a passionate educator, and was Director of Juilliard’s MAP Percussion Ensemble, in addition to teaching private percussion lessons and mentoring their orchestral musicians. He has also taught for Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect program and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s education programs and summer schools. Douglas has previously tutored Rhythmic Analysis at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Greenwich Village and has recently joined the faculty at Bloomingdale School of Music as Director of Jazz Ensemble and teacher of Drums and Percussion. In an educational consultancy role, Douglas served as Strategic Consultant for Music and Arts at New York City Charter School for the Arts as well as Director of Percussion Ensemble.
Douglas teaches private lessons both in New York City and London, and students of his have subsequently been awarded scholarships to study at institutions such as New England Conservatory in Boston, San Francisco Conservatory, Juilliard’s Pre-College, Manhattan School of Music and the Verbier Festival Orchestra.
As an arranger, Douglas has been commissioned by The Juilliard School to create new arrangements and orchestrations for their small and large ensembles. He is also a current member of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, composing for the New York Jazz Orchestra.
Douglas’s own interest in Jazz evolved from childhood as a classically trained pianist, percussionist and choral singer at the junior department of the Royal Academy of Music in London, later studying drums with Dave Hassell and Dave Wickins. He subsequently moved to NYC in 2010, where he initially studied with Billy Hart, Nasheet Waits and Obed Calvaire. In 2013, Douglas was the first British musician to be awarded a place and scholarship to study on Juilliard’s prestigious Jazz program. Here, he earned his Master of Music degree in 2015 studying with Kenny Washington, Carl Allen, Billy Drummond and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis. Immediately afterwards, Douglas was awarded the drum chair for Juilliard’s Artist Diploma Ensemble (2015-17) where his sextet was coached by Wynton Marsalis, Kenny Barron and Ben Wolfe, touring Europe, South America and Japan.
Born in London, Douglas was immersed in a musical environment, growing up with the musical guidance of both his grandfather Sir Neville Marriner (Founder and Conductor of the Academy of St Martin-In-The-Fields / Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra / Amadeus), and also his father Andrew Marriner, Principal Clarinet of the London Symphony Orchestra. Effectively growing up as a child of both the LSO and ASMF, Douglas was fortunate to gain a unique insight into the life of the professional musician, joining both orchestras on tour, observing recording sessions and film scores at Abbey Road Studios and performances at the world’s major concert halls.
Rooted in this musical lineage, Douglas took the opportunity to develop his own musical voice and saw the role of the improvising Jazz drummer as the natural evolution from his grandfather’s artform - conducting, combined with that of an improvisor - composing in real-time.
In addition to performing and teaching, Douglas is a contributor to BBC Radio, and enjoys interviewing many of his musical heroes, counting Wynton Marsalis, Billy Hart and Andre Previn amongst his mentors.