GayelynnMcKinneyDrummer

Drummer Gayelynn McKinney from Detroit, Michigan, discusses her new CD It's About Time. Her drumming style is electric, from jazz to latin to rock to funk. Her style has uncanny improvisation, power, speed and deliberate control. A founding member of the Detroit based, Grammy nominated all female jazz group STRAIGHT AHEAD, McKinney is also a talented saxophonist and singer. Her father is legendary pianist and composer Harold McKinney and her mother is Gwendolyn McKinney, a renowned singer and vocal instructor. She began playing at the age of two. McKinney received musical training on the Detroit Jazz scene, and has a B.A. in Music Education from Oakland University, where she was a part of the Meadowbrook Estate, a world-renowned show choir and a member of the university jazz band. GayeLynn conducts workshops for K-college students. She appears at local clubs like Bakers Keyboard Lounge. She has played with notables including Aretha Franklin, Carlos McKinney, Marcus Belgrave, Geri Allen, Harold McKinney, Regina Carter and others. GayeLynn's outstanding musical performance, during Music Fest, USA won best drummer of 9,000 participants. Straight Ahead won the 2004 Motor City Music Award for best jazz group. She's played at Montreaux-Switzerland Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Boston Globe Festival, the Kennedy Center, Jamaica Jazz and Heritage Festival-Montego Bay and the 1996 Olympics and in Japan. Gayelynn McKinney