Biography

Jacques Willis is a musician from Anchorage, Alaska, known for electrifying performances across Jazz, rock, and fusion. A gifted drummer, keyboardist, and vibraphonist, he earned his music degree from Cornish College of the Arts in 2003.

He has collaborated with renowned artists including Kareem Kandi, Ryan Burns, Ty Bailie, Don Mach, Steve Kim, Kate Olson, Star Anna, Wayne Horvitz, Julian Priester, Hadley Caliman, Ron Eshitay, george colligan, Ali Jackson Mike McCready, Duff McKagan, Barrett Martin, Stone Gossard, and Mark Pickerel. His work has been featured in publications such as Jazziz, Keyboard Magazine, Earshot Jazz, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Stranger, and The News Tribune. He received Keyboard Magazine’s “Unsigned Artist of the Month” award for Extra Double Bonus Good, co-created with Ty Bailie, and an Earshot Golden Ear Award for Northwest Acoustic Jazz Ensemble of the Year as a member of the Kareem Kandi World Orchestra.

A founding member of D’Vonne Lewis Limited Edition and The Whopper Jons (with Ryan Burns), Jacques has also been a longtime collaborator with the Kareem Kandi World Orchestra. He has performed at major festivals including Bumbershoot, Earshot Jazz Festival, Taichung Jazz Festival, Watershed Festival, and Wayward Music Festival, with airplay on KPLU and KEXP.

Beyond the bandstand, Jacques is a founding member of the Kraken Stilt Team, led by Leslie Rosen, and has performed for many years at Teatro ZinZanni under the musical direction of Hans Teuber. He is also a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Eric “The Demon” Dahlberg.

In 2019 Jacques released his first solo record, Jacques-1 Music-0, and continues to perform regularly with many of the Pacific Northwest’s finest artists. He currently resides in Seattle, Washington.