Julius Rodriguez

Mastering the piano and harmonies helps him when playing the drums. This in turn allows him to better grasp the rhythmic dimension of the piano. Like Tyshawn Sorey or Jack DeJohnette, 25-year-old Julius Rodriguez has a double talent. A few keywords: at 12 at the Manhattan School of Music, first gigs at 14, then at the famous Julliard. At the Betty Carter Workshop, he was taught by Jason Moran, among others - "the teachers knew how to get something out of you by appealing to your emotions and really making you play for your life," he says. That wasn't long ago, but he has since worked with Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove and Meshell Ndegeocello, was a member of the Onyx Collective and released his debut "Let Sound Tell All" in 2022: a wild mix of hard bop, avant-garde, R&B, hip hop, sometimes acoustic, sometimes electronic - because he loves Stevie Wonder and Herbie Hancock as well as McCoy Tyner and Art Blakey.