About Me
E.J. Strickland has emerged as one of today’s hottest
young drummers. Since his arrival to the scene in 1997, he
has performed and recorded with many stellar groups such
as The Ravi Coltrane Quartet, The Russell Malone Quartet,
The Marcus Strickland Quartet, Lizz Wright, The Vincent
Herring Quartet/Quintet, Myron Walden, and Freddie
Hubbard and the New Jazz Composer’s Octet. In his
twenties, and at the beginning of his career, it’s not hard to
see that the best is still yet to come.
Enoch Jamal Strickland was born in Gainesville and
raised in Miami, Florida. His father, a former percussionist
for the Fort Lauderdale Symphony Orchestra and a jazz
enthusiast, immersed E.J. and his twin bother Marcus with
music from Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Stevie Wonder,
The Jazz Crusaders, Led Zeppelin, and Jimmy Hendricks.
Unsurprisingly, he chose to study music when he turned 11,
and decided to pursue a career as a professional musician a
year later.
He attended The New World School of the Arts
(Miami) for high school, studying classical music as well as
jazz. He found great influences in drummers like Elvin
Jones, “Philly†Joe Jones, Roy Haynes, Tony Williams, Jeff
“Tain†Watts, Brian Blade, and many, many others. After
meeting Wynton Marsalis, Jon Faddis, and Bobby Watson
at Miami clinics, the Strickland brothers decided to go to
New York City to further pursue their studies and goals.
In 1997, E.J. attended The New School for Social
Research, where he studied piano, polished his skills as a
composer, and studied with some of the world’s greatest
drummers: Joe Chambers, Michael Carvin, Carl Allen,
Ralph Peterson, Lewis Nash, and Jimmy Cobb. He started
to develop a sound when The Marcus Strickland Quartet
was formed, adding classmates Robert Glasper and
Brandon Owens: “E.J. can emit fields of cumulative
energy, clouds of feather-touch and heavy-handed
syncopations, latent with power like an oncoming storm.†(Thomas
Conrad, Downbeat Magazine) Before earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Jazz
Performance, he had already performed with artists such as
Wynton Marsalis, Nneenna Freelon, Abbey Lincoln,
Christian McBride, Herbie Hancock, Wessell Anderson,
and Dianne Reeves.
Keep your eyes and ears open as one of New York’s
brightest talents blossoms. There’s much more to be done
for E.J. Strickland.I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
