Carola Grey is regarded as one of Germany’s most famous modern drummers, which has been officially recognized in 2010 when she, as the only female, became part of the GERMAN DRUM HEROES, the 25 best german drummers, selected by the Magazine DRUM HEADS.
She holds a masters degree in Jazz and Popular Music from the prestigious music college in Cologne and later went to New York to deepen her studies at the ‘Parsons College of Music’ and the ‘Drummer’s Collective.She spent 6 years in New York and during that time she collaborated with some of the best artists of different musical genres: Mike Stern, Ravi Coltrane, Rocco Prestia (Tower of Power), Larry Coryell, Maria Excommunikata, to name but a few.
Her own CDs which feature her not only as a drummer but also as a composer and arranger and singer, made it into the top ten of the US Gavin Jazz Charts and won her many awards (a.o. Bavarian Cultural Award, Int. Jazz Award Burghausen). As a performer and teacher she has travelled around the globe – Europe, U.K., USA, Japan, Bahrain, Egypt, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Jordan, China, Iran and the Gazastrip – just to name a few.
She also collaborates a lot with indian musicians. This has added a very unique and interesting aspect to her drumming and music. She has worked with carnatic master musicians like Guruji T.V. Gopalkrishnan, Vaidyanathan Suresh, Rajhesh Vaidyha, Sriram Parthasarathy a.o. and also recorded for the famous Bollywood producer Bappi Lahiri. Currently she tours with her band NOISY MAMA in Europe and India, works as a studio and live drummer, producer and composer and founded her own record label ‘Noisy Mama Productions’. On the teaching side she conducts worldwide drum workshops for SONOR, and is a regular guest teacher at various music colleges.