Max Krucoff

Born in 1985, Max Krucoff began playing drum set and classical percussion at age 11 in North Carolina, where he was raised. Shortly thereafter, his father introduced him to the Max Roach album "Deeds, Not Words," which changed Max's idea of what the drums could be. Before long he was playing professional gigs in the triangle area and studying with local musicians Thomas Taylor and Frank Worrell. In his junior year in high school, he was awarded all-district honors on tympani, but decided to pursue jazz in college. Max attended Northwestern University (2003-2007) where he studied with Chicago jazz great Joel Spencer. Although naturally left-handed, Max had been following convention and playing right-handed drums. Due to musical frustration in his first year of college, however, he taught himself to play left-handed, switching his entire drum set around. By his senior year, Max had made the university's top jazz ensemble and combo and was featured on two of the university's CD releases ("Groove Assessment," 2005, and "Extra Credit," 2007--read a review of the latter, http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=28526). As an undergraduate, Max had the opportunity to learn from and perform with artists such as Jim McNeely (Grammy Nominee), Chris Potter, Conrad Herwig, Bob Mintzer, Rufus Reid, Ron Blake, Jeff Parker, Dennis Carroll, Dana Hall, and George Fludas. Currently, Max plays professionally in the Chicago area. He also plays in and/or has recorded with groups in other musical genres, like Jon Johnson's Funhouse (rock/blues), The Hubble Funk-o-Scope (funk...duh), Alice's Dark Country (country/bluegrass), Tim Andrews (pop/rock), and The Red Hot Organ Trio (jazz). Visit www.MaxKrucoffMusic.com for more.