Tina Raymond

Tina Raymond is an accomplished drummer and educator based in Los Angeles, CA. A unique voice in the contemporary improvised music scene, Raymond blends traditional jazz vocabulary with African polyrhythm and classical percussion technique. Brian Zimmerman of DownBeat Magazine writes, “Raymond displays ferocious chops and a remarkable sense of balance.” She has toured the US, Europe, and Asia as a leader and sideperson.

Raymond’s 2023 acclaimed release, Divinations, (Imani Records) showcases the first-call Los Angeles drummer in a groove-centric, melody-drenched context that may surprise admirers of the more abstract tonal personality she’s documented with SoCal avant luminaries like Bobby Bradford, Vinny Golia, Eric Revis, and Dan Rosenboom; or, for that matter, on two albums by the eclectic Esthesis Quartet. Other recent releases as a side person also include Rachel Eckroth’s Live at Sam First (Sam First Records 2023), Boom Sessions Volume III with Dan Rosenboom, Gary Fukushima, and Eric Revis (Orenda 2022), Kuba Stankiewicz’ Music of Roman Statkowski (Warner Music Poland 2021), and Bobby Bradford’s Stealin’Home (NoBusiness Records 2021). On her debut album, Left, Right, Left, (Orenda 2017), Raymond explores America’s polarized politics through a set of patriotic hymns, folk songs, protest anthems, and music by Woody Guthrie, Joni Mitchell, and Joan Baez. Her thesis is that concepts of left and right are integral to understanding both drumming technique and American political discourse.

An Associate Professor, Raymond is the director of Jazz Studies at California State University Northridge. Prior to her appointment at CSUN, she was tenured faculty at Los Angeles City College in Hollywood, CA. She received a DownBeat Educator Achievement Award (2020), and currently serves as President for California Alliance for Jazz. Raymond has presented globally and her teaching credits include Jazz Institut Berlin, Engelsholm Winter Jazz, University of Gothenburg, Indiana University, Northern Colorado University, University Nevada at Reno, University of Oregon, Willamette University, University of Kansas, University of Michigan, Loyola University New Orleans, Portland State University, Bard College, Idyllwild Arts, and more. She received an M.F.A in Jazz (drum set) from CalArts in 2010, and a B.M. in double performance, classical percussion and jazz studies, from University of Cincinnati’s CCM in 2008.