Phil Gillette is a versatile drummer and percussionist, with experience playing a wide variety of instruments and styles of music. He received a bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S.A, where he studied both classical percussion and jazz drums with mentors Charlotte Mabrey and Danny Gottlieb. As the drummer of UNF’s acclaimed Jazz Ensemble 1, Phillip had the opportunity to perform with such greats as Jimmy and Tootie Heath, Steve Davis, Cyrus Chestnut, Yotam Silberstein, John Lee, Maria Schneider and Donny McCaslin, Danilo Perez, John Fedchock, Antonio Hart, Michael Mossman, Mulgrew Miller, Carmen Bradford, Kevin Mahogany, and others. He recently completed his Masters in Jazz Performance at William Paterson University in New Jersey, where he had the opportunity to perform with Rich Perry, Vincent Herring, The New York Voices, and Rhoda Scott, as a member of the WP Jazz Orchestra. Besides drumset and classical percussion, Phillip also loves playing Brazilian, Latin, and African percussion. Phillip also appeared on a recent album by Roberta Gambarini and Jimmy Heath titled Connecting Spirits.