Joe Dyson
drums
New Orleans native Joe Dyson started playing music in his family’s church at the age of two. He went on to perform in the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp where he was shadowed by the late, great clarinetist Alvin Batiste, and his longtime bandleader and mentor, alto saxophonist Donald Harrison. A graduate of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA), Dyson earned a presidential scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music. Dyson has performed around the world and shared the stage with such legendaries as Dr. Lonnie Smith, Ellis Marsalis, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Jon Batiste, Leo Nocentelli, Sullivan Fortner, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Pedrito Martinez, Grammy Award-winners Nicholas Payton and Pat Metheny, among many others. He has performed on over 30 albums including Dr. Lonnie Smith’s All in My Mind, Sullivan Fortner’s Aria, and Christian aTunde Adjuah’s Grammy nominated Emancipation Procrastination. He appeared on the HBO series Treme, and can be seen performing in the documentary New Orleans: Been in the Storm Too Long hosted by Tavis Smiley. He can also be heard on the movie soundtrack Rachel Getting Married, by the late, Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme. Dyson has taught throughout the U.S. and Europe, including The New School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, NOCCA Riverfront, and Södra Latin (Sweden). He is currently an adjunct professor at Tulane University.