Drummer · Bandleader · EducatorJacobs School of Music · Indiana University

SeanDobbins

Drummer. Bandleader.
Professor of Jazz Drumset at the Jacobs School of Music.

Detroit · Bloomington
ListenBook Sean

Serve the music. Keep the joy.

“You've got to make the band feel good before you make yourself sound good.”Sean Dobbins

LatestJacobs auditions for Fall 2027Sep 30, 2026

Next up

Where to hear the band next. Every date, with add-to-calendar, is on the gigs page.

Loading upcoming dates…

All dates →

Sean Dobbins at the drums, black and white. Photo: Mark Sheldon.

About

Detroit's
drum chair

Sean Dobbins keeps time for Detroit. Two decades on the city's best bandstands beside Benny Golson, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Barry Harris and Mose Allison, and now the jazz drumset studio at Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, where the next ones are learning to swing.

Read the full bio →

Performed, toured and recorded with

  • Benny Golson
  • Dr. Lonnie Smith
  • Barry Harris
  • Mose Allison
  • Frank Morgan
  • Joey DeFrancesco
  • George Cables
  • Jon Hendricks
  • Cyrus Chestnut
  • James "Blood" Ulmer
  • Marcus Belgrave
  • Larry Willis
  • Rodney Whitaker
  • David "Fathead" Newman
  • David Baker
  • Louis Smith
  • Johnny O'Neal
  • Claude Black
  • Donald Walden
  • Marion Hayden
  • Randy Johnston
  • Paul Keller
  • Tad Weed
  • Kurt Krahnke
  • Johnnie Bassett

From The Barbershop

Sean's studio at IU, and a library of free PDFs for drummers everywhere.

Study with Sean

Come sit in.

Jazz drumset at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Audition info, what the studio is like, and a form if you want Sean to know you're coming.

Prospective students →

All free resources →