Mike Bennett
Mike Bennett has a long and established career as a jazz and world percussion artist in Maine. From the early 1980s, Mike’s list of musical collaborations reads like a who’s who of jazz in the East, including the likes of Anita O’Day, Sheila Jordan, Greg Abate, Clark Terry, Larry Coryell, Phil Wilson, Bob Newhart, Johnny Johnston, Buddy DeFranco, Miles Evans, Jeanie Bryson, and Ray Alexander.
Latin Percussion is another specialty in which Mike is immersed. This is important because today, it is no longer a niche genre but can be considered mainstream in both popular and classical music.
In addition to drum set, jazz, and Latin percussion, Mike pursued an intense interest in West African music, making frequent trips to The Gambia over more than ten years to study Balafon, Djembe, and Wolof Sabar. He brings back the fruits of those studies to his students at the University of Maine and College of the Atlantic.