About Jim
Jim Frink is a versatile drummer and educator based in Davis, CA.
He began playing drums at age nine and was performing professionally by high school. A recipient of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award, Jim toured Japan with the Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra before pursuing music studies at UC Santa Cruz. His private drum studies include work with George Marsh and Rick Lotter.
Jim performs regularly across a wide range of musical styles and settings—his experience and interests include jazz, rock, funk, Brazilian, country, pop, and freely improvised music. He is a founding member of the collective jazz trio Triism (with Levi Saelua and Alex Reiff), which won the Grand Prize at the Bucharest International Jazz Competition. He also leads the Jim Frink Trio and maintains regular residencies at the Root of Happiness kava bars.
Some of the artists and bands Jim has performed or recorded with include Joe Craven and the Sometimers, Boca do Rio, the Max Hart Trio, Hillary Reynolds, Jessica Malone, and the Colossus West Jazz Ensemble. He has also recorded as part of Music Shop, a duo project with Jacam Manricks.
As an educator, Jim enjoys working with the next generation of drummers. He has taught music in California, New Zealand, and Australia, and has guest lectured at California State University, Sacramento for the Jazz Pedagogy program. He currently teaches students of all skill levels from his private studio in Davis.