Jost Nickel clinic at The Glasshouse spotlights groove over speed

Jost Nickel’s stop at The Glasshouse was set up as the kind of clinic working drummers actually go to: one built around groove, sound, musicality, and the choices behind a great pocket, not a display of maximum speed. The Sonor artist brought a résumé that made that promise matter, with books, teaching, and session credits that stretch from New York to Mannheim and from jazz-heavy bandstands to major touring stages.

The clinic was scheduled for Wednesday, June 17, 2026, from 7pm to 9pm in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall at The Glasshouse in Gateshead. Admission was £20 per person, and the event was open to ages 14 and up. The Glasshouse framed the session as a mix of performance, insight, demonstrations, discussion, and questions, which fits Nickel’s reputation for making difficult ideas feel usable in real playing situations.

That educational angle is the real hook. Nickel studied at Drummers Collective in New York and teaches at Popakademie Mannheim, and his official biography lists four books: Groove Book in 2015, Fill Book in 2017, Snare Book in 2019, and Beginner Book in 2023. Two of those titles were nominated for Modern Drummer Magazine’s Best Educational Product, a sign that his material has landed well with players looking for substance rather than spectacle.

His performance background gives the clinic extra weight. Nickel has been the drummer with Jan Delay & Disko No. 1 since 2006, and Sonor says his career got a real boost in the 1990s when he joined the fusion band Matalex. Remo’s biography adds that he has performed and recorded with Randy Brecker, Jeff Lorber, Bob Mintzer, Jimmy Haslip, Barry Finnerty, Mitch Forman, and Brandon Fields, underlining just how widely his playing has traveled.

The setting matters too. The Glasshouse International Centre for Music opened in December 2004 after an eight-year redevelopment effort led by Gateshead Council and partners, and it has since become a major home for music and musical discovery with two main stages and a 26-room music education centre. That makes it a fitting room for a clinic that prizes feel over flash and asks players to listen as much as they play.

For drummers who care about the mechanics of a song, not just the mechanics of a lick, Nickel’s Glasshouse date was the right kind of night: an evening where groove, touch, and decision-making took priority from the first downbeat to the last question.