Jerome Jennings

Jerome Jennings is a drummer, composer, bandleader, educator, and activist whose work links small-group jazz with film, dance, and public-history projects.

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Photo source · Official headshot via Jerome Jennings

Career Overview

About Jerome Jennings

Jennings's official biography presents him as a drummer, composer, bandleader, sideman, activist, and educator. It connects his leader recordings to touring and recording work with Sonny Rollins, George Cables, Christian McBride, Ron Carter, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and other ensembles.[1][3]

His work also extends beyond album projects: the artist site documents film composition and music supervision for TCB: The Toni Cade Bambara School of Organizing, musical direction for tap-dance productions, and teaching in university and public-history settings.[1][2]

Ensembles and Career Threads

Bands & Projects

Leader, drummer, and composer

Jerome Jennings & iLL Philosophy

Jennings's current ensemble carries forward the socially engaged writing documented on The Beast and Solidarity.[1][5][4]

Composer and musical director

Film and dance composition

The official biography records Jennings's score and music supervision for TCB and his work on Maurice Chestnut's Beat's Rhymes and Tap Shoes.[1]

Professor, lecturer, and curriculum designer

Jazz education and public history

Jennings has taught jazz history, directed ensembles, designed community courses, and co-curated programs including Jazz in the Era of Black Lives Matter.[1][2]

Selected, Not Exhaustive

Recordings to Know

2016 · Iola Records

The Beast

Leader, drummer, composer, and producer

Jennings leads a sextet with Sean Jones, Dion Tucker, Howard Wiley, Christian Sands, and Christian McBride, with Jazzmeia Horn appearing on one track.[3][4]

Release details

2019 · Iola Records

Solidarity

Leader, drummer, composer, arranger, and producer

Solidarity combines Jennings's compositions and arrangements with blues, R&B, hip-hop, and world-music references in a socially focused ensemble program.[3][5]

Release details

2016 · Okeh Records