Marcus Gilmore

Born: October 10, 1986

Marcus Gilmore is a multi-Grammy award winning drummer, composer, producer, and educator.  

The New York based musician has been recognized with numerous awards, residencies, and fellowships - including becoming a 2018 - 2019 Protege in the Annual Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. 

Gilmore, in all his playing, integrates a unique style where he is musically expanding rhythm, while supporting the great musicians with whom he plays.  He has had the distinct privilege of performing/recording with Mulatu Astatke, Chick Corea, Pharoah Sanders, Savion Glover, Pat Metheny, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gonzalo Rubalcaba ,Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Ravi Coltrane, Common, Flying Lotus, Robert Glasper, Natalie Cole, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Derrick Hodge, Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah, Thundercat, Brad Mehldau, Cassandra Wilson, Nicholas Payton, Jill Scott, Talib Kweli, Queen Latifah, Norah Jones, Black Thought, Zakir Hussain, The Cadillacs, Bilal, Terrence Blanchard, Roy Hargrove, Terrace Martin, Taylor Mcferrin, and Fred Armisen.

The Cross Over: Live in Brooklyn

By Jason Palmer

Label: Giant Step Arts
Released: 2024
Track listing: (First Set): B.A.M.D.; Same Bird; Do you Know Who YOU Are?; One for Fannie Lou; (Second Set): Beware of Captain America; For the Freedom Fighters; The Cross Over; It Very Well May Be So; More in Common.

Trio Of Bloom

By Nels Cline

Label: Pyroclastic Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: Nightwhistlers; Unreal Light; Breath; Queen King; Diana; Bloomers; Eye Shadow Eye; Why Canada; Forge; Bend It; Gone Bust;

Southern Nights

By Sullivan Fortner

Label: Artwork Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: Southern Nights; I Love You; 9 Bar Tune; Tres Palabras; Waltz for Monk; Arain, Never; Discovery; Daahoud; Organ Grinder.

Nels Cline: Trio Of Bloom

by Mike Jurkovic
September 15, 2025

Maelstroms come and maelstroms go, but the maelstrom generated by a pumped-up Marcus Gilmore on Ronald Shannon Jackson's? “Nightwhistlers," the concussive kicker that jump-starts Trio of? Bloom, holds its storm-warning, jazz-rocking, course. That guitarist Nels Cline--cranked by the spirit of Jimi Hendrix via Bill Frisell circa late '87; and keyboardist Craig Taborn (himself a modern acolyte ...

Fosterchild, Jim Black, Mathieu Donarier & Armaroli/Piccolo/Sharp

by Maurice Hogue
August 4, 2025

Drummer Fabian Arends' quintet Fosterchild highlights this edition of One Man's Jazz with a killer of an album--Order At Agan Live. This German/Danish band of Arends, Kasper Tranberg on trumpet, Sebastian Gille on saxophone/clarinet, Jacob Anderskov on piano, and David Helm on bass exude power, energy and an original language throughout the music, recorded at the ...

Sullivan Fortner: Southern Nights

by Pierre Giroux
May 17, 2025

On Southern Nights, pianist Sullivan Fortner sets out to capture lightning in a bottle and succeeds with radiant charm. Joined by the impeccable Peter Washington on bass and the restless Marcus Gilmore on drums, Fortner opts for total spontaneity: no rehearsals, no retakes, no isolation. The result is a recording that feels alive and as richly ...

The Brad Mehldau Trio at SFJAZZ

by Ronald Davis
May 7, 2025

Brad Mehldau Trio Groovin' High at SFJAZZ

by Roy Strassman
April 26, 2025

Brad Mehldau Trio SFJAZZ Center San Francisco, CA April 3, 2025 SFJAZZ Center honored the Bay Area's jazz fans with the Brad Mehldau-Christian McBride-Marcus Gilmore trio, in town for a four-night run from April 3-6, 2025. Opening night was a real treat for the ear, eye, and soul. Casually dressed, the ...

Mark Turner and Jason Palmer: Not Even The Sky Is The Limit

by Pat Youngspiel
February 13, 2025

The independent non-profit label Giant Step Arts continues to cultivate its narrow but highly selective roster of top-tier players with new live recordings by label-regulars Mark Turner and Jason Palmer. Each has been a part of the other's quartet for several years at this point, endowing their respective projects with the unifying contours of their idiosyncratically ...