PHILIP MAYER

ABOUT ME

I'm a New York City based drummer, percussionist and educator specialized in a variety of styles on both the drum set and a range of hand drums from all over the world, especially the Middle East, Turkey and Greece. I play drums for multi-platinum selling artist Natalie Merchant and I originated the drum book for the Broadway musical 'The Band's Visit' which won 10 Tony Awards including best musical, a Grammy for best cast album and an Emmy. I've performed with various artists on The Late Show with David Letterman, Good Morning America, The Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln Center and many more in the US, Japan, Europe and the Middle East. 

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Aside from my drum set work, I also play Arabic, Greek and Turkish music, a passion which has taken me all over the world. I've performed at the Presidential Palace in the United Arab Emirates, the Al Bustan Palace in Oman and here in the States I perform regularly with some of the finest musicians in these respective traditions including Ara Dinkjian, Bassam Saba and the New York Arabic Orchestra (Fairuz), Michel Merhej Baklouk (Fairuz), Aslihan and Ertugrul Erkisi from Istanbul and others.

I've performed, toured and/or recorded with:

Natalie Merchant, Kishi Bashi, The Knights, The National Symphony Orchestra, David Wax Museum, Marianne Trudel, Coleman Barks, Lonnie Holley, Ahmed Alshaiba, Seamus Egan, Hazmat Modine, The New York Arabic Orchestra, and many more.

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