Joel

Joel is professional, punctual and great with the details. A great team player as well. Would love to work again.

If you are looking for a drummer or percussionist Joel is the best! He has amazing feel and musicianship with a great attitude. He showed up to the gig on time and he was completely prepared with all the drum parts ready. He has fantastic energy that really brings life to the songs. Also he is very entertaining to watch, always smiling and having fun. As a band leader I have worked with many drummers in Los Angeles and Joel is my 1st call when I need a live or studio drummer. You will not regret hiring him for your next gig or studio session.

I have hired, collaborated with, and recommended Joel since 2016. He is an extremely talented player with a great attitude who does his homework and comes prepared, shows up on time, communicates well, and has mastered his instruments. He is comfortable in many styles and can deliver precision performances for the studio or bombastic grooves on stage. Joel is also natural and magnetic performer who expresses his musicality kinematically on stage, and audiences react strongly to his naturally positive and upbeat energy.

As a bandleader and bassist, hiring Joel means I don't have to stress about anything besides giving a great performance. He listens to everyone on stage and reacts musically to new ideas, riffs, and motifs while providing a solid grid for musical ideas spanning tightly rehearsed to entirely improvised. After just a few gigs together, Joel could easily co-lead the band and give direction to new or fill in players, leaving me more bandwidth for big picture band leading and performance.

In addition to great musicianship, Joel a blast to be around and always has a smile on his face and a joke ready for delivery. If you're looking for anything from a full time collaborator to a last minute fill in, you can't go wrong with Joel.

Joel is an incredible drummer to work with. I have worked with dozens of percussionists and music directors during nationwide travel and Joel has been the most reliable, passionate, and really knows how to perform on stage in a band! Not only is he spot on with learning the drum parts to my original music, he adds really fun live techniques to my set to change it up from the studio recording. He had has built my sets out and uses thorough cues that I can pass on to any instrumentalist. Joel is always readily available and willing to help out not only as a musician but as a friend. Whenever I was nervous or felt unprepared for a gig, Joel immediately dropped what he was doing to asses my concerns and find a solution with rapid turnaround. I couldn’t recommend him enough!

I'm a musical director and have worked with Joel on a range of projects starting in 2021. Joel is a pleasure to work with.

Musically, he's easy to communicate with. Because I know he's got deep musical knowledge and vocabulary, we don't have to spend much time trying to iron out parts of a given piece of music. Rather, we get to zoom in and work out the finer points - dialing in the exact feel for a given section, making decisions about dynamics, and anything to help elevate the track. In a situation where session time is limited, being able to focus on the higher level aspects of a song quickly is very valuable.

On a professional level, I can count on Joel to do what he says he's going to do. He's shows up on time and prepared. I remember one occasion where an opportunity arose last minute with another one of his groups, and he still honored the original time he committed to with a gig that was already scheduled, whereas many could be tempted to jump on whatever is the best option in the moment. I think moments like this speak for themselves.