1. Dennis Mackrel was born on April 3,1962 and is an American jazz drummer, composer, and arranger who was a member of the Count Basie Orchestra and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
10 Facts About Dennis Mackrel
1. 2.
The son of two jazz enthusiasts, Mackrel started playing drums at age two and began his professional career playing at a community theater at age ten.
3.
Dennis Mackrel attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, studying jazz under Frank Gagliardi, during which time he performed in venues such as the Imperial Palace and the Tropicana.
4.
In 1981, Dennis Mackrel moved to New York City and became a drummer with a Broadway theatre orchestra.
5.
Two years later on the personal recommendation of singer Joe Williams, Dennis Mackrel joined the Count Basie Orchestra where he would remain until December 1987.
6.
Dennis Mackrel was the last drummer of that orchestra to be personally hired by Count Basie himself.
7.
Shortly before Lewis died in February 1990, he announced that he wanted Dennis Mackrel to take his place as the regular drummer for the band, which soon changed its name to the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.
8.
Dennis Mackrel later became the drummer for many other big bands and small groups including the Hank Jones Trio, the American Jazz Orchestra, the Carla Bley Big Band, Buck Clayton's Swing Band, the George Shearing Quintet and the Dizzy Gillespie All Star Big Band.
9.
Dennis Mackrel has written pieces for McCoy Tyner, the WDR Radio Big Band of Cologne, the Kluvers Big Band of Denmark, the RIAS Big Band of Berlin.
10.
Dennis Mackrel is currently a professor at Queens College in Flushing, New York.