John Betsch

John Betsch (2007)

John Betsch (born October 8, 1945 in Jacksonville (Florida) ) is an American jazz drummer and composer.

Live and act

Betsch comes from a family of musicians, his mother was an organist, his sister MaVynee Betsch initially an opera singer; another sister is Johnnetta Betsch Cole . He started playing drums at the age of nine. He completed his studies, which he began at Fisk University and the Berklee School of Music , with Max Roach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst . During this time he mostly played in organ trios and in 1974 he presented his first album "Earth Blossom" with his John Betsch Society . In 1975 he moved to New York City , where he played with Marion Brown , Paul Jeffrey , Max Roach, Jeanne Lee and Henry Threadgill . Between 1977 and 1979 he was part of Abdullah Ibrahim's band , and from 1980 to 1982 he was part of Archie Shepp's quartet . He was then a member of the Marty Cook Quartet . He has lived in Europe since 1985, where he played in the group of Jim Pepper and in the quartet of Mal Waldron , but also in the band of his wife, the French pianist Claudine François . He worked in Steve Lacy's group for 16 years . He was also in the studio with Özay Fecht and in a trio with Elvira Plenar and Peter Kowald . He made further recordings with Marilyn Crispell , Klaus König , Billy Bang , Sathima Benjamin , Uli Lenz , Sarah Morrow and Simon Nabatov . He was traveling in Japan with Eric Watson . In 2015 his John Betsch Society included the pianist Jobic LeMasson and the bassist Peter Giron.

personal data
SURNAME	Betsch, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American jazz drummer and composer
DATE OF BIRTH	October 8, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH	Jacksonville (Florida)