Biography
New Yorker Michael Lauren (b.1950) began playing drums at the age of eight. His artistry fuses the boundaries of jazz, blues, funk, rock, and world music. Michael attended The Johns Hopkins University, The Peabody Conservatory and Berklee College of Music. He is a founding member of the world-renowned Drummers Collective NYC, where he taught for over twenty-five years. Michael was the Professor of Drum Set Studies (2003-2020 Ret.) and head of the Jazz Department (2005-2010 & 2015-2017) at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo (ESMAE) in Porto, Portugal. He is currently Professor of Drum Set Studies at Escuela Superior de Música Jam Session Barcelona, España and is the founder / artistic director of The International Drum Academy Lisboa, Portugal.
Michael has performed and/or recorded with Chuck Berry, Benny Golson, Paul Anka, Tom Harrell, Charles Brown, Tom Jones, Darlene Love, Bill Frisell, Bob Stewart, Bob Mintzer, Milt Hinton, Ted Curson, Rick Margitza, Martha Reeves, Don Sebesky, Teo Macero, Jerry Jemmott, Kenny Davern, Mike Stern, Silje Nergaard, Dena DeRose, Tutu Puoane, Robert Kraft, Cornelius Bumpus, The Drifters, The Coasters, Bobby Radcliff, Popa Chubby, Grant Green Jr, Markus Burger, Max Ionata, Orquestra, Jazz Matosinhos, Orquestra Jazz Algarve, Jorge Costa Pinto Big Band, Quinteto Mario Santos, The Postcard Brass Band, Hugo Alves Quartet, 2 Tubas & Friends and many others.
He currently leads his new band The Michael Lauren Trio and has led the bands Bashier, Magister Ludi and The Michael Lauren All Stars. Both of The Michael Lauren All Stars’ albums. “Once Upon A Time In Portugal” and “Old School / Fresh Jazz” were not only highly praised by both Portuguese and International jazz critics, but were chosen as one of the 10 best national albums (Portugal) of 2016 and 2018 respectively. Michael has worked in Broadway theatre productions, in the studios of New York recording albums, jingles, industrials and was a staff drummer for the music publishing company Famous Music.
Michael is the author of seven books: Welcome To Odd Times - An Approach To Mental and Manual Dexterity For The Drum Set, The Book of Silence, The Encyclopedia of Double Bass Drumming, Rudiments And Variations For Drummers, Understanding Rhythm - A Guide To Reading Music, Rhythmic Fundamentals, and Compreender Ritmo. An internationally recognized educator and clinician, Michael has written articles for Modern Drummer Magazine, The Percussive Arts Society’s magazine Percussive Notes and Score Magazine a subdivision of the PBS television series “Rock School”.
Michael endorses Yamaha drums, Zildjian cymbals and sticks, Remo drumheads, SkyGel damper pads, Protection Racket cases and Road Crew.
