Search - Owen Howard :: Drum Lore

The birth of Drum Lore took place at a summer jazz workshop where Howard was one of the several artists-in-residence . The drummer explains further, As we were getting ready for a discourse on the finer points of our various approaches to composition, one of the participants said to me. Owen, why are you here? You re a drummer, and this is a composition class? Well, how does one answer a comment like that? Rather than being offended, I took it upon myself to dispel this myth that drummers can t, or don t, compose. The brilliant result is Drum Lore, a recording of great stylistic diversity, dedicated to exploring compositions exclusively by many of the revered drummers of our time. As Joe Lovano has stated, some of the hippest bandleaders and composers in jazz, have come from the drum chair ; so many that Howard has at least several more CDs worth of music composed by drummers that he d like to record, so be on the lookout for the possibility of Drum Lore, Vol. 2 . Drum Lore opens with the joyously swinging Bulgaria (Peter Erskine), with the melody stated by the tart, attention-grabbing sound of soprano and alto saxophones, provided by Andy Middleton and John O Gallagher respectively, with Howard and bassist Johannes Weidenmueller burning underneath (as they do throughout the session). Few drummers can cover Tony Williams without falling just short in terms of intensity and originality, but Howard instantly renders Williams Arboretum (from the album Foreign Intrigue ) as a beautifully played tribute to the late, great master. Next up is the Billy Hart tune Duchess , from one of my favorite recordings of Billy s, Oshumare. Billy s tunes have a very strong and personal melodic quality to them, I find myself humming them often, explains Howard. One can always overhear musicians discussing the qualities of Hart s drumming, so it is especially important for people to realize what a gifted composer he is as well; Drum Lore exists to create that awareness of Hart and his colleagues, past and present, including Howard himself. Feeling that it would have been hypocritical to not include one of his own compositions, the album features Roundabout , which he composed after listening to Miles Davis Circle In The Round . Other highlights on the recording include the emotive, haunting, but pretty Paul Motian tune, It Should ve Happened A Long Time Ago , of which Howard commented, I m quite fond of our rendition, I think we capture the spirit of the tune ; Togo by master drummer Ed Blackwell, which Howard arranges to incorporate three distinct time feels that Blackwell transitions to throughout his solo; and the first recorded composition from drummer/bandleader Shelly Manne, Flip , from the album The Three and The Two. Howard also features compositions by Chick Webb, Al Foster, Denzil Best and Jack DeJohnette. Throughout Drum Lore Owen Howard s drumming reveals a distinctive maturity and depth. As Thomas Conrad stated in DownBeat Magazine, As a percussionist, Howard does not keep time but feeds his band detailed ideas about shifting energy. In other words he compels his bandmates to truly interact throughout each tune, melody and solos. All About Jazz.com stated (about Howard s Days Before and After) that The real meat of the music is in the collective interplay of the ensemble, the responses of one musician to what another has just done, all in real time . . . You re not going to find a more fascinating demonstration of unique musical communication. If this weren t enough, with an enviable sense of dynamics, creativity and touch, Owen Howard pulls from his drums and cymbals the most pleasing sounds one could imagine generating from wood, plastic and metal.