kevin romain

Kevin Romain is a drummer, improviser, composer, educator, bandleader and curator based in East Vancouver. Since the early 2000s he has performed regularly across North America as well as Europe, West Africa, China and Japan. He studied jazz and contemporary music at Vancouver Community College and has studied the drums with luminaries such as Tomas Fujiwara, Marcus Gilmore, Jeff Ballard, Mark
Guiliana, Dan Weiss, Bernie Arai and Dylan van der Schyff.

Romain’s current focus as a bandleader and composer is post-bop quartet Salience Network. The debut full length record from this group was released in 2023 on The Infidels Jazz record label. He also leads K. Romain and His Bad Homies, an acoustic jazz trio performing repertoire from the early 20th century, and avant-garde ensemble Free Time Trio. As a sideperson, he can be heard performing regularly with art pop ensemble Only A Visitor (Mint Records), Itamar Erez‘ quartet, and at least a dozen other groups.

Over the past decade Romain has performed extensively as a soloist on the drum set. 2025 sees the release of his first solo record Autopoietic 1, a collection of improvisations rooted in his highly personal polyrhythmic vocabulary and his ongoing research into the neuro-bio-psychological links between emotional states and rhythmic perception.

As an organizer Romain has opened and operated multiple community music spaces across Canada including Vancouver’s General Strike Coffee Workshop, and is currently co-curator of the Lost Dog concert series for jazz and improvised music.

Outside of music, Kevin likes cooking, old Volvo cars, roasting and drinking coffee, anti-colonial action and hanging out with his friends.