Gwilym Jones is a drummer, bandleader, composer, and educator based in London.

Born in Liverpool, Gwilym’s early life was awash with musical influences, as the son of a classical cellist and a music teacher. He started taking classical violin lessons at an early age, but quickly began to explore other instruments and genres before eventually discovering the drums and jazz music.

Gwilym discovered an immediate affinity with the drums. After making great progress as a self-taught drummer, he soon met Matt Skelton, who became his first teacher and continues to have an invaluable influence on Gwilym’s playing until this day. Under Matt’s guidance Gwilym began his studies with some of the greatest musicians on the UK jazz scene: Jeff Williams, Tristan Mailliot, Gareth Lockrane, Barry Green, and Jeremy Brown, to name a few.

After leaving school Gwilym decided to study jazz formally in an institutional setting. He studied at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire - graduating in 2017 with a BMus with honours in Jazz Performance.

Once he’d graduated from Birmingham, Gwilym relocated to London alongside some of his fellow students from Birmingham. In 2018 he worked with Olly Chalk, playing on Olly’s album “Scathed Citizens” - which also featured legendary NYC alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher. Gwilym subsequently toured with this band throughout 2018 & 2019, resulting in the live album “Scathed Citizens (Live)” - recorded at the Vortex Jazz Club in August 2019.

Gwilym also played his first major concert as a bandleader in autumn 2018 at the Ronnie Scott’s “Spotlight Series” - presented by Alex Garnett, where he performed the music of Elmo Hope alongside Bruno Heinen on piano and Sam Ingvorsen on bass.

At this time Gwilym also started a weekly residency at Oliver’s Jazz Club in Greenwich, which he continues to run today. Gwilym has been an essential part of the fabric of the club, bringing in many phenomenal international musicians to perform with him at the venue - amongst them: Tivon Pennicott, Ruben Fox, JD Allen, Simon Moullier, and Emma Rawicz. He also worked alongside Sam Leak to ensure that the club continued to be able to showcase live music during the covid pandemic through livestreams and covid-safe performances.

Gwilym also studied at Trinity-Laban College of Music in Greenwich from 2019, earning a Postgraduate Diploma in Jazz Performance in 2021.

After the Covid pandemic, Gwilym’s career continued to progress exponentially. He began working with Ruben Fox, with whom he performed at Ronnie Scott’s, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, 606 Club, The Crypt in Camberwell, and many other premier UK venues.

In 2022 Gwilym began working with legendary NYC saxophonist JD Allen. Gwilym played in JD’s trio alongside Mirko Scarcia at venues across the UK including The Vortex Jazz Club & Digbeth Jazz. Gwilym subsequently recorded with JD on his album “THIS” in a trio format with Alex Bonney on electronics. The album earned positive reviews from The New York Times and Downbeat Magazine for its dark tone, creative instrumentation, and cohesive ensemble sound. Gwilym’s performance on drums was mentioned as a particular highlight.

Gwilym continues to work at the highest level on the UK jazz scene, both as a sideman, and with his latest piano trio project “thelonious.exe” - which focuses on interpreting the repertoire of Thelonious Monk with Bruno Heinen on piano and Larry Bartley on bass.