Biography
Jojo Mayer came into the world on January 18, 1963, in Zurich, Switzerland, already destined to play drums. Bassist Vali Mayer, his father, took the boy along on tours through Europe and eastern Asia for most of his earliest years. That constant immersion in music left its mark; Mayer received his first drum kit at age two and made his stage debut in Hong Kong the year after.
At eighteen he entered the band of pianist Monty Alexander, an association that opened doors to Europe’s leading jazz festivals and supplied backup work with Dizzy Gillespie and Nina Simone. In 1991 he settled in New York City. The following years brought performances and recordings with the Intergalactic Maiden Ballet, the Screaming Headless Torsos, and John Medeski—on the Lunar Crush project with the Torsos’ David Fiuczynski—alongside other experimental ventures. By the mid-nineties he had become a steady presence at drum clinics across North America and Europe.
Deeper involvement in downtown New York’s avant-garde circles sharpened his interest in experimental funk and electronica. He performed with Me'Shell NdegéOcello, James Blood Ulmer, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Vernon Reid, and DJ Spooky while still honoring his post-bop jazz commitments. Mayer launched Nerve, a group that fused electronic beats with live drumming and improvisation; the project appeared weekly at the club event Prohibited Beatz, where DJs spun drum’n’bass, U.K. speed garage, and jazzy breakbeats. In the same stretch he recorded with Olga Konkova, Domenico Ferrari, Harry Sokal, Sulfur, and the electronica outfit Echo, among others.
At eighteen he entered the band of pianist Monty Alexander, an association that opened doors to Europe’s leading jazz festivals and supplied backup work with Dizzy Gillespie and Nina Simone. In 1991 he settled in New York City. The following years brought performances and recordings with the Intergalactic Maiden Ballet, the Screaming Headless Torsos, and John Medeski—on the Lunar Crush project with the Torsos’ David Fiuczynski—alongside other experimental ventures. By the mid-nineties he had become a steady presence at drum clinics across North America and Europe.
Deeper involvement in downtown New York’s avant-garde circles sharpened his interest in experimental funk and electronica. He performed with Me'Shell NdegéOcello, James Blood Ulmer, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Vernon Reid, and DJ Spooky while still honoring his post-bop jazz commitments. Mayer launched Nerve, a group that fused electronic beats with live drumming and improvisation; the project appeared weekly at the club event Prohibited Beatz, where DJs spun drum’n’bass, U.K. speed garage, and jazzy breakbeats. In the same stretch he recorded with Olga Konkova, Domenico Ferrari, Harry Sokal, Sulfur, and the electronica outfit Echo, among others.