African Drumming Ensemble Instructor

James Waterman is a multifaceted percussionist, composer, and teaching artist based in Los Angeles. James is devoted to the exploration of all areas of percussion and has extensively studied West African drumming, Western Classical solo repertoire, orchestral percussion, Middle Eastern drumming, Trinidadian Steel Drums, jazz vibraphone, latin percussion, drum set, Indian tabla and tala systems, and Brazilian percussion. James has also traveled to Ghana where he studied drumming, singing, and dancing and performed as a lead drummer at the Dagbe Cultural Institute and Arts Centre.

James has performed as a percussionist in television and radio on Los Angeles’s KPFK 90.6 FM, PBS SoCal's LA County Holiday Celebration at The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and NBC’s Today Show. He has played with a wide variety of ensembles and artists including Randy Gloss, Houman Pourmehdi, four larks, Alessandra Belloni, SK Kakraba Band, Volta Drum and Dance, Nani Agbeli, and Zadonu African Music and Dance Company. James has performed at such venues as SFJAZZ, PASIC, Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Boston Court, The Getty Villa, REDCAT, The Joshua Tree Music Festival, The Blue Whale, and the NAMM Show.

James holds a Master of Fine Arts in World Percussion from California Institute of the Arts, and a Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance and Instrumental Music Education from The Hartt School. James also holds a Single Subject Teaching Credential in Music in the State of California.