Paul Van Wageningen passed away peacefully on Friday November 9th and we'd like to share the statement left by his family on his tribute page:

He believed he had the perfect life filled with music and loving friends and family.
He lived it well with grace and gratitude.
His light will shine forever in our hearts.


Born in Amsterdam, Paul Van Wageningen moved to New York in 1976 to embrace the American Jazz scene. Since his relocation to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 70s, he had gained recognition as one of the premier drummers in the area, performing with countless artists and ultimately receiving three Grammy nominations.

Paul performed both in the United States and abroad with many of the top global-beat jazz groups such as Pete Escovedo, Andy Narell, Gonzalo Rubalcaba’s Trio, Paquito D’Rivera and the Caribbean Jazz Project, Jovino Santos Neto, Claudia Villela, Ricardo Peixoto, Nestor Torres, Dori Caymmi, and Ray Obiedo. He was also a part of Mark Levine and the Latin Tinge and John Santos and the Machete Ensemble.

On some of those recordings, he shared rhythm duties with his bassist brother Marc, with whom he co-led the VW Brothers Band.

See Paul's discography at AllMusic