Kim Plainfield
Kim Plainfield, drummer, originally from the San Francisco Bay Area has been based in New York since 1977.  He has accumulated numerous performance and recording credits during his professional career, which he started in earnest at the age of 19 when he began playing with Mingo Lewis and subsequently secured the drum chair with the Pointer Sisters.

kim plainfield.com

berklee bio page

Some three years later, at the age of 22, Kim moved to New York City where Kenwood Dennard introduced him to the Drummers Collective.  This is where Kim’s pedagogical career took hold.  He then started playing with Bill Connors, the world-renowned guitarist from Chick Corea’s original Electric Band, and Didier Lockwood, the unparalleled French jazz violinist.

Recordings, where Kim participated, that deserve mention are “Double Up” and “Assembler” by Bill Connors and “Live At The Olympia” by Didier Lockwood.  All three recording are considered icons of contemporary fusion music. Worldwide, Kim is one of the first addresses when looking for modern drumming.  His unbelievable technical abilities and versatile musicality bring audiences to enthusiastic amazement. He is a drummer of true and deep and organic musicality.

Kim began to receive international recognition during his seven-year engagement with Tania Maria.  During that period, he toured extensively in the US, Europe, Central America, South America, The Caribbean and the Far East.  Additional performance and recording credits include Jon Lucien, Andy Narell, John Pattitucci, Kenny Rankin, Jacques Higelin, Charles Fambrough, Edgar Winter and Mose Allison.

Kim embarked on a solo career in 1993 and has since been touring Europe as a leader, at least twice a year, to ever increasing audiences and superb press reviews.

“Kim Plainfield played drums much the same way that (Jon) Lucien sang, in the sense that he created intensity through pure conviction and an unrelenting sense of groove.  His superb technical command was obvious, but he never exploited it by setting off percussive fireworks.  His fire was constant and very hot.” (Rick Mattingly: The Courier-Journal)

Kim completed his debut CD, a joint project with Lincoln Goines, and is now a signed recording artist with EFA Records in Europe and Shiosai Records in Japan.  Kim toured as a leader in Japan, promoting the release of the Japanese version of his CD entitled “Night and Day”.   This recording effort features the world-class musicians Jon Lucien, Mino Cinelo, Bill O’Connell, Alex Foster, Didier Lockwood, Myra Casales, Dan Carillo, Bill Connors, Adam Holzman and Pat Thrall.

As an educator, Kim is Co-Chairman of the Faculty at the Drummers Collective in New York City where he has taught since 1979. He was an associate professor at S.U.N.Y. Purchase from 1993 to 2005 and in the fall of 2002 Kim accepted an Associate Professor position at Berklee School of Music.  His instructional book “Advanced Concepts” is known as the bible of modern progressive drumming.  He has conducted countless clinics in Europe, the United States, Japan and Central America, as well as extended artist-in-residence programs at various conservatories in Europe. In November of 2002 Kim received the distinct honor of being a featured clinician at the International Percussive Arts Society Convention in Columbus, Ohio.

Fusion: A Study in Contemporary Music for the Drums is the new method book by Kim Plainfield (Bill Connors, Tania Marie, the Pointer Sisters, John Pattitucci, Jon Lucian, etc.) and part of The Collective Contemporary Styles Series. This book and CD utilize four tunes as a basis to show how this fusion-blending process can occur and expose you to major trends that exist. Kim also authored the landmark instructional book Advanced Concepts.