Johnny Steele is a professional drummer, composer, arranger, and producer. He first
picked up drumsticks at the age of three and has been in love with music ever since. Growing up
in a small town in Maryland, he showed a musical musical aptitude that was uncommon for the
area. Hungry to develop his skills as a musician, he moved to California at the age of twelve and
attended the San Diego School for Creative and Performing Arts for both middle school and high
school. It was during this time that he was able to study under musicians in the LA jazz scene as
well as in jazz education programs such as Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Academy, the
Young Lions Jazz Conservatory, and the National YoungArts Foundation programs (of which
Johnny was nationally recognized as a winner in 2016). Johnny now resides in New York City
where he is attending the Juilliard School as a member of the vigorous accelerated masters
program (BM ‘21, MM ‘22). He studies with Billy Drummond, Kenny Washington, Frank
Kimbrough, Mark Sherman, and Gerald Cannon.
Johnny has had the great fortune of collaborating and performing with esteemed artists on
the jazz scene today including Wynton Marsalis, Gilbert Castellanos, Christian Hoff, Frank
Kimbrough, Dan Nimmer, Marcus Printup, Sahara Grim, Giveton Gelin, Julius Rodriguez, and
Jeffery Miller. As a sideman, he has performed at venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose
Hall and Atrium, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, The Django, Smalls Live, Panama 66, Rue-B, the
Jacobs Center, the Embarcadero and at the 2018 ESPYS Sports Humanitarian Awards. He has
also performed internationally at the Bern Jazz festival in Switzerland, Jazz-B in São Paulo, and
The Keep an Eye Jazz festival in Amsterdam.
In addition to his extensive performing career, Johnny is also a passionate composer and
educator. He has found composition education to be incredibly valuable tools to express his
mission. This mission is to alleviate the separateness felt in today's world by unifying people
through music. Both his compositions and his performances exemplify this mission. Johnny is
known for his ability to capture the attention of an audience through expressive use of dynamics
and articulations, creating a visceral mood that audiences can latch onto and thus feel in
synchronicity with each other. His compositions provide that same contrast. Through education,
he is able to spread this message to others.
Johnny is a proud endorser of Soultone Cymbals