The Biography

Bill Summers is an New Orleans based Afro-Cuban and Latin Jazz percussionist and multi-instrumentalist who has played across jazz, funk, and world music. Summers is known for his diversity in percussion across congas, bongos, marimba and steel drums as well as his versatility across musical genres, receiving various accolades and critical acclaim. Summers studied piano, composition, and theory at Detroit Conservatory of Music and the Michigan Conservatory of Music, as well as Ethnomusicology at University of California, Berkeley. Summers has performed on TV and Movie soundtracks including 'The Color Purple' and 'Roots'. He has played with and contributed to Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, collaborated widely with other musicians such as Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, and Bobby McFerrin, and is a founding member of Los Hombres Calientes. Summers has been active as a composer, arranger, and producer, and founded the Summers Multi Ethnic Institute of Arts in New Orleans with his former wife, Yvette Bostic-Summers.