Kassa Overall

Kassa Overall is a Grammy-nominated artist, drummer, emcee, singer and producer who seamlessly blends jazz, hip-hop and avant-garde experimentation into a sound uniquely his own. Hailed as “one of modern jazz music’s most audacious futurists” by Pitchfork, Overall has released six critically acclaimed mixtapes and albums, including I Think I’m Good, Go Get Ice Cream and Listen to Jazz, and ANIMALS. His groundbreaking solo projects have established him as a driving force on the international stage, fielding support from visionaries including Thom Yorke, Iggy Pop, Virgil Abloh, and more. Kassa has toured and recorded with renowned artists like Geri Allen, Jon Batiste, Steve Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Terri Lyne Carrington, Yoko Ono & Gary Bartz, and his production work can be heard on albums by Theo Croker, Arto Lindsay and Danny Brown. A Seattle native, Kassa Overall attended Garfield High School, the alma mater of Quincy Jones, Jimi Hendrix and Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces & Digable Planets. A child drum prodigy, he taught himself to make beats on an MPC and an ASR 10 he acquired at a Seattle Police Department auction. On CREAM, his fourth solo studio album, Overall pays homage to the twin passions of his youth — hip-hop and jazz drums in the tradition of Elvin Jones. With this collection of instrumentals, the visionary drummer and producer transforms beloved songs from the 90s and aughts into timeless standards that are rhythmically adventurous, witty, and often sublime.