Joby Burgess
One of Britain’s most diverse percussionists, Joby is equally at home performing with Peter Gabriel at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and The Who at Wembley Stadium as reimagining Blade Runner at Sydney Opera House and Ibiza Classics at the Royal Albert Hall.
Known for his virtuosic performances, Joby’s solo projects Powerplant and Pioneers of Percussion have taken him from Berghain, Berlin to SESC Pompéia, São Paulo. Recent releases for Signum include Gabriel Prokofiev’s ‘Concerto for Bass Drum’, Eric Whitacre’s ‘Marimba Quartets’ and BBC Radio 3’s Album of the Week ‘A Percussionist’s Songbook’.
Most often to be found recording at London’s Abbey Road and Air Studios, Joby’s playing can be heard on several hundred major film and TV scores, notably leading the percussion sections on the Black Panther and Ant-man franchises, The Odyssey, Spirited, The Harder They Fall, Rocketman, Ad Astra, The Darkest Hour, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Doctor Who.
Joby’s playing can be heard on recent albums including, Rosalia’s ‘Lux’, Édith Piaf’s ‘Symphonique’, Little Simz’s ‘Sometimes I Might Be Introvert’, Trevor Horn’s ‘Reimagines The Eighties’ and for artists ranging from Sir Paul McCartney and Max Richter to Sir Peter Maxwell Davies and Stewart Copeland.
Joby has built up a vast collection of percussion instruments, which he has sampled extensively for Spitfire Audio at both Air Studios, Lyndhurst Hall and Abbey Road Studio One. In the field of education, Joby created the Virtual Marimba Choir, which brought together 227 percussionists from around the world during Spring 2020.
‘a prominent figure in the alt-classical scene … Joby Burgess, the soloist coaxed all manner of sounds from the oxlike instrument, often wielding multiple sticks in each hand and even using his fingers and elbows … the words athleticism and stamina come to mind.’ New York Times
‘one of the best concertos written this century … Joby Burgess has made the Bass Drum Concerto his own, and the Ural Philharmonic under Alexei Bogorad clearly respond to the percussionists’s virtuoso treatment of an instrument that resided in the lower reaches of the orchestral hierarchy for far too long.’Gramophone
‘Wow factor was supplied by Joby Burgess’ percussion, which exquisitely enhanced the music – hauntingly tribal at one moment and fantastically futuristic at another.’The Upcoming
