Shannon Powell is a legendary New Orleans jazz drummer and educator who can be found with his own combo or with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Kermit Ruffins, or other high-end Crescent City combos. Powell, raised in the storied, musically-inclined Treme neighborhood, was raised in the church musical tradition, first taking the stage as a drummer at age 6. He was a member of the famous Fairview Baptist Church Marching Band, under the mentorship of the great Danny Barker, along with the likes of Leroy Jones, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, Dr. Michael White, Kirk Joseph, Lucien Barbarin, and Anthony “Tuba Fats” Lacen, and Powell got his first paid gig playing Jazz Fest with Barker’s Jazzhounds band when Powell was just 14.

Powell has played around the world with some of the most well-respected names in jazz, ranging from Harry Connick Jr. to all the Marsalises, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Diana Krall, Johnny Adams, and Dr. John. He was honored with the 2010 Ascona Jazz Award from the famed Swiss festival.  He is also one of the stars of the 2011 documentary about New Orleans musical culture, "Tradition is a Temple.”