Brian Kilgore's career as a session percussionist is about as diverse as can be. His experience with orchestral percussion and ethnic percussion can lead him from playing timpani on the TV show Family Guy one day, to playing Senegalese percussion on a film or hand percussion on a major pop artist’s CD the next day. Brian says, "I'm fortunate that I get to play pretty much every genre of music there is, with the best musicians and artists in the world. I never know what will be thrown at me. Every day is a new challenge, and my goal is to make the music the best it can be, and true to itself, no matter what the genre is."
He has played on over 250 film scores, including Ted, Raiders of the Lost Ark 4, Transformers, King Kong, Happy Feet 2, Frozen, Muppets Most Wanted, Narnia, Wall-E, Hairspray, Pollock, A Bug's Life, A Perfect Storm, Spiderman II, The Bourne Supremacy, Troy, Van Helsing, I Robot, The Polar Express, Team America, Robots, and Cars.
He has worked with several composers, including John Williams, Alexandre Desplat, Danny Elfman, James Horner, Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Randy Newman, Thomas Newman, Alan Silvestri, Tyler Bates, Brian Tyler, James Newton Howard, Ramin Djawadi, Trevor Morris, Marc Shaiman, Jeff Beal, Harry Gregson Williams, Steve Jablonsky, Christophe Beck, and AR Rahman.
In his wide ranging studio career, Brian has played on over 500 albums, including rock and roll with Cold Play, Daft Punk, Skrillex, Sheryl Crow, Empire of the Sun, Whitney Houston, Starship, Linda Rondstadt, Robbie Nevil, the Goo Goo Dolls, Aerosmith; Latin jazz with Clare Fischer and Francisco Aguabella; straight ahead jazz with Terry Trotter, Bill Watrous, Bill Cunliffe, and Bob Florence; smooth jazz with Kirk Whalum, Everette Harp, Dave Koz; and rap with NWA, P Diddy, Dr. Dre, Christina Milian, and Xybit.
He has also performed live with Barbra Streisand, Seth McFarlane, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, Elton John, Deep Purple, Brad Mehldau, Teena Marie, Ivan Lins, Chaka Khan, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and many more.
Brian received his Bachelor of Music degree from California State University, Northridge, where he subsequently served on the faculty from 1992-1998. With a wealth of diverse skills, from playing ethnic percussion instruments from across the globe, to playing on some of the most complex orchestral films scores ever recorded, to laying down a groove that is guaranteed to make you move, Brian has cultivated a career recording percussion in all genres that has been matched by few.
