biography
above: first recital, age 5
below: Sweet Child of Mine video
Jasper Hughes is a 16-year-old drummer.
His understanding of rhythm was evident early on, when his mother gave him two straws to play with in his stroller at a coffee shop, and she noticed he was playing a beat.
He started drum lessons at age three, and performed in yearly recitals starting at age five.
When he was nine, his school music director assembled a small combo band, in which Jasper was the drummer. However, shortly after, the pandemic hit, and schools closed. Jasper spent most of his free time during this period listening to blues, jazz, and progressive rock, and playing the drums. When school reopened, the band was back playing together, and they moved through styles including Latin, pop, hard rock, funk, and jazz.
At the school winter concert in 2022, the band played Guns and Roses’ Sweet Child Of Mine in front of a crowd of 1400 people, and the video on Jasper's YouTube channel has nearly 2.2 million views.
In April 2023, the band traveled to Philadelphia to compete at the National Jazz Festival, where they won Best Small Combo, and Jasper was awarded the Best in Band Medal.
In the summer of 2023, Jasper was accepted into the prestigious Stanford Jazz Institute, where he was one of the youngest musicians at age fourteen.
In early 2024, he was selected to benefit from the Bill Green Mentorship Program through LA Jazz Society.
Richard Simon, one of the directors of the Bill Green Mentorship, selected Jasper to continue with JazzAmerica, an ensemble directed by Simon comprised of some of the best young musicians in LA. They performed at the Central Avenue Jazz Festival in September of 2024.
Also in the fall of 2024, Jasper performed as one of two student musicians in the otherwise professional pit orchestra for his school’s musical, Beauty and the Beast. He and the other student musician have since formed a small group called The Four and a Half, which has performed at events and fundraisers around town, ranging from background music for cocktail hours to headlining The Canyon Club in Agoura for a cancer fundraiser. Videos of their performances are on the Jasper Hughes Drums YouTube channel.
Jasper has always had a great understanding of the emotions and subtleties in music. With what has been noted by many as his great sense of timing, he works and challenges himself daily to grow as a musician.
His understanding of rhythm was evident early on, when his mother gave him two straws to play with in his stroller at a coffee shop, and she noticed he was playing a beat.
He started drum lessons at age three, and performed in yearly recitals starting at age five.
When he was nine, his school music director assembled a small combo band, in which Jasper was the drummer. However, shortly after, the pandemic hit, and schools closed. Jasper spent most of his free time during this period listening to blues, jazz, and progressive rock, and playing the drums. When school reopened, the band was back playing together, and they moved through styles including Latin, pop, hard rock, funk, and jazz.
At the school winter concert in 2022, the band played Guns and Roses’ Sweet Child Of Mine in front of a crowd of 1400 people, and the video on Jasper's YouTube channel has nearly 2.2 million views.
In April 2023, the band traveled to Philadelphia to compete at the National Jazz Festival, where they won Best Small Combo, and Jasper was awarded the Best in Band Medal.
In the summer of 2023, Jasper was accepted into the prestigious Stanford Jazz Institute, where he was one of the youngest musicians at age fourteen.
In early 2024, he was selected to benefit from the Bill Green Mentorship Program through LA Jazz Society.
Richard Simon, one of the directors of the Bill Green Mentorship, selected Jasper to continue with JazzAmerica, an ensemble directed by Simon comprised of some of the best young musicians in LA. They performed at the Central Avenue Jazz Festival in September of 2024.
Also in the fall of 2024, Jasper performed as one of two student musicians in the otherwise professional pit orchestra for his school’s musical, Beauty and the Beast. He and the other student musician have since formed a small group called The Four and a Half, which has performed at events and fundraisers around town, ranging from background music for cocktail hours to headlining The Canyon Club in Agoura for a cancer fundraiser. Videos of their performances are on the Jasper Hughes Drums YouTube channel.
Jasper has always had a great understanding of the emotions and subtleties in music. With what has been noted by many as his great sense of timing, he works and challenges himself daily to grow as a musician.