German-born Benny Greb is a drummer with solid skills, considerable flash and a growing international appeal.

He was born June 13, 1980, in Augsburg, and began drumming by the age of 6. He took professional lessons starting at the age of 12. During this time he wasn’t just focusing on the drums; he took piano and trumpet lessons, as well. (And, on his 2005 solo album “Grebfruit,” he appears holding a Sousaphone. Greb doesn’t just drum, he sings, plays bass and guitar, produces and composes for that album.)

From 1997 to 2000, he studied music in Dinkelsbühl under Udo Dahmen. There, Greb was the drummer for the university’s big band for three years, and he graduated from the “Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg.”

Greb counts among his influences Sting and The Police, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, James Brown, The Beatles, Frank Zappa, John Mayer, Bobby McFerrin, Vinny Colaiuta, Steve Gadd, Steve Jordan, Steve Smith, Jojo Mayer, Wolfgang Haffner, Tony Williams… and even Johann Sebastian Bach.

Greb works both as a live and studio drummer and has played with several German bands, including Jerobeam and Otterpost. He’s also an instructor at the Hamburg School of Music, and has conducted a workshop tour with JoJo Mayer, appeared at the NAMM Show in Los Angeles and DrummerLive in London’s Wembley Arena, and was featured at Montreal Drum Fest in 2005.

He has recorded with Strom & Wasser, Ron Spielman, the NDR Orchestra-Zappa Project and numerous others.