THE FOREST

The Forest is a cooperative percussion ensemble formed in Brooklyn in 2021, featuring Gustavo Aguilar, Leah Bowden, Andrew Drury, and Michael Wimberly. Dedicated to contemporary percussion, interdisciplinary collaboration, and diverse world musics, the quartet pushes the boundaries of rhythm, creative expression, and collective improvisation. The ensemble explores sound in a vast range of environments, staging performances everywhere from Lincoln Center’s Atrium and Roulette Intermedium to site-specific improvisations at the US/Mexico border fence and in the Cascade Mountains.

The quartet’s ambitious projects have drawn substantial institutional support, including major grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, South Arts (Jazz Road), and the Brooklyn Arts Council. Their discography includes their 2023 debut, [D]RUMINATIONS—recorded by Jon Rosenberg—and also features Lesley Mok. The album features a suite extrapolated from Ed Blackwell’s Mu recordings alongside Warren Smith’s “Elements of a Storm”, with special guest performances by Smith and J. D. Parran. More recently, Ropeadope Records released Coyote Makes a World (2026), a multi-media collaboration with Native singer and storyteller čnaq’ymi (lone eagle), which the ensemble also presented at the 2026 CalArts World Music Festival following a multi-state tour.

The Forest maintains a ongoing performance relationship with percussion legend Warren Smith. In 2024, the quartet celebrated Smith’s legacy through a Distinguished Alumni Concert and residency at the University of Illinois’ Krannert Center and his 90th-year celebration in the Bronx. Supported by a 2026 NEA grant, The Forest will further champion Smith's and Max Roach's classic M'Boom compositions at the Angel City Jazz Festival this October.

Beyond their touring history, The Forest is deeply committed to grassroots community engagement, musical education, and outreach in under-resourced communities. In addition to leading hands-on workshops in partnerships with the Westhab Shelter and New Lots Library (Brooklyn), the Low Income Housing Institute (Seattle), Urban Voices (LA), and the International District Library (Albuquerque), their academic residencies and masterclasses span the country, with notable presentations at CalArts, UC San Diego, the University of Washington, the University of New Mexico, Bennington College, and Edgefest in Ann Arbor.

“....[(D)ruminations is]an extraordinary manifestation of size in flux and diversity matched only by the breathtakingly vivid recording."

–Marc Medwin in the NYC Jazz Record, June 2024
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