Oliver Gene Lake, Jr. (born January 12, 1966 in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
) is an American
jazz drummer
Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques a ...
. He is the son of saxophonist
Oliver Lake
Oliver Lake (born September 14, 1942) is an American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, poet, and visual artist. He is known mainly for alto saxophone, but he also performs on soprano and flute. During the 1960s, Lake worked with the Black ...
.
Lake began playing drums when he was five years old, and took lessons with
Pheeroan akLaff
Pheeroan akLaff (born Paul Maddox January 27, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. He began playing in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan and Ann Arbor, with R & B keyboardist Travis Biggs, funk keyboardist Nimrod “The Grinder” ...
as a high schooler at
The High School of Music & Art
The High School of Music & Art, informally known as "Music & Art" (or "M&A"), was a public specialized high school located at 443-465 West 135th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York, from 1936 until 1984. In 1961, Music & Art and the High ...
in New York City. He attended
Berklee College of Music, where he worked with
Tommy Campbell, and played in local Boston bands in a variety of styles. He played with his father in New York in 1987 and 1988, then joined
Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He h ...
's ensemble in 1990. Later in the 1990s he worked with
Steve Coleman,
Lunar Crush (with
David Fiuczynski
David Fiuczynski (born March 5, 1964) is an American contemporary jazz guitarist, best known as the leader of the Screaming Headless Torsos and David Fiuczynski's KiF, and as a member of Hasidic New Wave. He has played on more than 95 albums as ...
and
John Medeski
Anthony John Medeski (born June 28, 1965) is an American jazz keyboard player and composer. Medeski is a veteran of New York's 1990s avant-garde jazz scene and is known popularly as a member of Medeski Martin & Wood. He plays the acoustic piano ...
),
Marcus Miller,
Brandon Ross
Brandon K. Ross is an American jazz guitarist. He was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Career
Ross did clerical work for Leroy Jenkins before playing with Archie Shepp and Marion Brown in the second half of the 1970s.
He has performed with W ...
,
David Sanborn
David William Sanborn (born July 30, 1945) is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album ''Taking Off'' in 19 ...
, the
World Saxophone Quartet
The World Saxophone Quartet is an American jazz ensemble founded in 1977, incorporating elements of free jazz, R&B, funk and South African jazz into their music.
The original members were Julius Hemphill (alto and soprano saxophone, flute), ...
, and
Joe Zawinul. Outside of jazz, Lake also played with
R&B musicians such as
Maxwell and
Me'Shell Ndegeocello.
Lake has been a resident of
Montclair, New Jersey
Montclair () is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Situated on the cliffs of the Watchung Mountains, Montclair is a wealthy and diverse commuter town and suburb of New York City within the New York metropolitan area. ...
.
Gene Lake
Drummerworld
Drummerworld is a Swiss drum website created by Bernhard Castiglioni in 1997. The site focuses on the biographies of prominent rock and jazz drummers and drum lessons, along with a discussion forum.
Popularity and awards
Half of ''Drumme ...
. Accessed September 18, 2017. "Since then he has made his home in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and currently lives in Montclair, New Jersey."
Discography
With Henry Threadgill
Henry Threadgill (born February 15, 1944) is an American composer, saxophonist and flautist. He came to prominence in the 1970s leading ensembles rooted in jazz but with unusual instrumentation and often incorporating other genres of music. He h ...
*'' Carry the Day'' (Columbia, 1995)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake, Gene
1966 births
Living people
American jazz drummers
Musicians from St. Louis
People from Montclair, New Jersey
20th-century American drummers
American male drummers
Jazz musicians from Missouri
20th-century American male musicians
American male jazz musicians
People from Fort Greene, Brooklyn
Jazz musicians from New York (state)