You can’t be the funkiest band in the world without one of the funkiest drummers.

That “world title” has been bestowed upon the group Tower Of Power, and the band wouldn’t have been the same without percussionist Russ McKinnon.

The Oklahoma native graduated from the University of Tulsa and later attended grad school at North Texas State University, which is known for its music programs. He credits his membership in the 27^th Lancer Drum and Bugle Corps of Revere, Mass., as a key to building his musicianship.

McKinnon’s professional career began with his serving as a classical percussionist with the Tulsa Philharmonic Orchestra, and later with the Fort Worth Symphony. But he’s likely best-known for the six years he spent with Tower of Power, the long-lived group that has gone through dozens of lineups in its roughly 40-year history.

The drummer’s solid, intricate and syncopated grooves were ideal to drive Tower of Power, known for its funky arrangements and its horn section. But McKinnon has displayed versatility (beyond funk and classical, which are different enough). He’s performed with groups and entertainers including Engelbert Humperdinck, Michelle Shocked, The Gap Band, Joe Cocker and Marie Osmond.

A longtime and active music educator, McKinnon has become a popular drum set clinician across the U.S. and Canada, and overseas in the United Kingdom and Continental Europe.

McKinnon also remains very active in the Los Angeles and U.S. West Coast music and recording scenes. In the summer, he ventures to Hawaii, where he teaches percussion for the Kamehameha Schools of Honolulu.