'I had the pleasure of working for a week with John this past summer at the workshop in Port Townsend, Washington. He is very musical, plays with a great beat, and has a wonderful, positive attitude!'
-- Jiggs Whigham, internationally acclaimed trombonist, band leader and educator.

'I've been listening to John play since his days with SnakeGrinder. He
is at home playing Blues to Jazz. I just had the pleasure of playing with him. He has a great positive attitude and is a very creative player. As a bonus, he owns more drums than Ringo, can do sound, record your CD, and rewire the clubs breaker box.'
-- Marc Moss, Owner and head engineer of Target Studio


"John DiGiovanni plays with ease and dexterity and he can also lay down the heat with a driving intensity. In the articulate rolling cross rhythms I hear echoes of Elvin... Plus he's one sexy drummerman."
-- Leslie Carey, Delaware area singer/ songwriter

John DiGiovanni - Bio

When John DiGiovanni sits down at the drums and picks up the sticks, it’s obvious from the downbeat that he’s an extraordinary musician. Equally at home with jazz, rock, blues, country, and classical, DiGiovanni’s smooth and multi-dimensional style shows that he’s no mere technician.

Very much in demand, JD is currently playing with no fewer than six bands, engineering and producing recordings at his own studio, and teaching drumming at music schools in Delaware and Pennsylvania.

JD fronts his own jazz group Moodswings, and over the years, has also had the honor to amass an impressive list of stablemates. These include the Sin City Band, The Bullets, Rockett 88, Wanamaker Lewis, Garry Cogdell, Group Therapy, Centrepeace, Red Hot & Blue, and The Little Big Band. Additionally, he was tympanist and section leader for seven years with the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra.

He is currently giving private drum and percussion lessons at Pro Musica Studio in Kennett Square, Pa, the Grand Opera House Music School in Wilmington, and at his home in North Wilmington.

In addition to performing locally, JD’s recent festival appearances include the Trinity Festival in Dublin, Ireland, the Centrum Jazz Festival at Port Townsend, WA., and repeat appearances at the Anglesea (NJ) Blues Festival and Wilmington (DE) Blues Festival.

"Playing the Trinity Ball in Dublin was certainly a high point. We were this blues quartet from America [Garry and the Complainers] and we just ripped it up," he said. "The crowd was ecstatic. There was something like 6,000 people there. It's all different in Europe, almost like being on another planet. And they love American music. We're working on a deal to go over to Bangkok for six weeks early next year. That would be an amazing experience."

"The Centrum Jazz festival this year was another highlight. I got to perform with two groups there: Jiggs Whigham's Trombone Choir and Bill Ramsay's Octet. "

JD has engineered and produced recordings for, among others, Garry and the Complainers, Mood Swings, Red Hot and Blue, The Wanamaker Lewis Band, Leslie Carey and Gina Sicilia.

Born in Long Island, N.Y., and currently residing in Wilmington, DE, JD's first instrument was the guitar at age 7. He switched to drums in 3rd grade and had brief interludes with string bass and French horn, but always came back to his first love -- drums.

"During marching band that first year, my school didn't have separate drums for marching, so we had to use the concert band equipment," he recalled. "We strapped the concert snares to our legs with shoestrings so they wouldn't flop around too much, and I got to carry the concert bass drum. It was so big, much bigger than me, that I couldn't see where I was going. I tripped and couldn't get back up without help!" His schoolboy experiences with marching band, orchestra and drum corps proved invaluable for what lay ahead.

Fresh out of school, he began studying privately with a then local player and teacher Bud Kelly, aka Joe Brancato. Bud played with Jimmy Smith and Boogaloo Joe Jones, among others, before going on to help establish Percussion Institute of Technology in L.A. and now has his own school in Australia.

After Kelly, he took lessons from the world reknowned teachers Jim Chapin and Boysie Lowrey, who taught Clifford Brown.

"I've always favored the one-on-one method of teaching. I'm a firm believer in the mentoring process," JD explained. "I feel fortunate that I've had so many wonderful teachers and I consider them all to be my mentors."

He also spent several years with Carl Mottola (Temple University) and Kenwood Dennard (Drummers Collective and Berklee School of Music).

While still in his late teens, he broke onto the scene as drummer for the legendary Snakegrinder, a jam band with psychedelic overtones. The band’s debut album has recently been re-released on the Radioactive label in England, where it is selling briskly.

JD humbly admits that he is still a student himself. "There's always something to learn." He is currently studying with the great Joe Morello, who has appeared on over 120 albums and CDs, including 60 with the Dave Brubeck Quartet, and John Riley, who has freelanced with Stan Getz, Milt Jackson, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, among many others. He also is currently studying vibes and theory.

Among JD’s major influences (besides his teachers) are Philly Joe Jones, Steve Gadd, Hal Blaine, Tony Williams, Bernard Purdie, Airto Moriera and Grateful Dead drummer-percussionists Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzman. His tastes range beyond the mainstream into Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and World music.

His favorite thing still is performing live.

"It doesn't matter what the venue. I have never lost that feeling of excitement I get from a good live performance. In fact that amazing feeling has not dwindled one iota. It just gets better with each performance. I think a lot of it is due to the fact that I am playing with better people all the time. And although my first love is jazz, I love to play all types of music. What's important is whether it's good or not. And I'm there to help make sure it's good!"

Earl Curry, a senior statesman of jazz who drummed for Charlie Parker, had this to say to JD after catching him at a Philadelphia gig:

"Let me see your hands.... How do you do that? Man, your playing sounds like you’re putting grease on it!"

Indeed.

John at age 7

John (2005)

John with Snakegrinder
on Main Street, Newark, DE

John in studio with The Bullets

John on stage with The Bullets

John with Jimmy Cobb at Ortlieb's, Dec. 2005

John with Steve Gadd, Nov. 2005

John with Lili Anel Band, 2007

John @ Wilmington Riverfront, 2007

John with Flying on Instruments
@ Clifford Brown Festival, June 2007