Owen Howard

Owen Howard

Owen Howard

Owen Howard has performed and recorded with the likes of Joe Lovano, Kenny Werner, Tom Harrell, Kenny Wheeler, John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman, George Garzone, Dave Holland, Eddie Henderson, Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton and many others. He has appeared on over forty recordings to date, including five under his own name, and has toured extensively throughout Europe, the United States and Canada. With more than twenty years of successfully leading his own bands, Howard is clearly an artist successfully following in the footsteps of legendary drummers/bandleaders such as Tony Williams, Peter Erskine, Billy Hart, Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motian, Al Foster, Shelly Manne and others.

Drummer/Composer Owen Howard (b. June 13, 1965) began studying drums at the age of 15. As a young up and coming drummer in Edmonton, Howard had many opportunities to perform with many fine Canadian and international artists passing through town. In 1988 he received a study grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, which enabled him to move to New York to complete his BFA in Jazz from The New School. It was then that the drummer began to make his mark on the New York Scene. He currently has five recordings to his credit before his BJUR debut album 'Drum Lore'. Pentagon and Sojourn, on the Koch Jazz label, Days Before and After (co-lead with Andrew Rathbun on Fresh Sound New Talent), Time Cycles (Fresh Sound New Talent), and now, Drum Lore (BJURecords). In addition to his role as a leader, Owen Howard is an in demand sideman for many of the jazz's name players. Howard also has extensive teaching experience to his credit. He has been a faculty member at The Banff Centre International Workshop and has held guest professorships at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia and The University of Fine Arts in Berlin, Germany. He has conducted workshops and clinics in the United States, Europe and Canada. Owen Howard currently lives with his wife Kelly and son Cooper in Brooklyn, New York.

"A good jazz drummer works with form and color along with pulse, applying compositional principles on the fly. Some take it further, as Owen Howard, one such drummer, illustrates with 'Drum Lore'." 

- The New York Times

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Owen Howard: Drum Lore Vol. 2. - More Lore

With the release of his seventh CD, Drum Lore Vol. 2 - More Lore, the follow up to the critically-acclaimed, 2011 Juno Award Nominated, Drum Lore (on BJURecords), Howard continues to celebrate and interpret music composed by drummers, and also feature more of his own compelling compositions. Where Vol. 1 was conceived as a studio recording of sorts, with each piece featuring a different configuration and concept, the second installment of the Drum Lore project gives the listener a taste of what the group sounds like in its working quintet format, featuring Adam Kolker (soprano & tenor saxophones, bass clarinet), John O'Gallagher (alto saxophone), Frank Carlberg (piano), Johannes Weidenmueller (bass) and the leader Owen Howard (drums).

Drum Lore Vol. 2 offers up seldom heard originals by Philly Joe Jones and Joe Chambers, as well as popular works by Victor Lewis, Paul Motian and Tony Williams. The remainder of the recording is comprised of recent original compositions by the leader. Highlights include, "Hey, It’s Me You’re Talkin’ To", one of Victor Lewis’ most well known compositions; Joe Chambers’ "Ungano" (from the Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note album, Medina); "Haiku", a composition that Howard composed at the piano in about ten minutes. "After stating the 5-7-5-syllable form, the soloists are free to interpret at will. It’s quite different each time we perform it", said Howard; "Like Buttah", "my take on rhythm changes, which incidentally pays homage to Sonny Rollins’ 'Oleo' (which was a butter substitute back in the day)"; and "Got To Take Another Chance", "a fun little piece by Philly Joe Jones that is based on the chord changes of 'Take The ‘A’ Train'.  I extracted the horn riff and ending bit from the Max Roach/Clifford Brown version of 'A Train' ( the record, A Study in Brown). I love Max’s train ending on that cut. Straight up fun!," said Howard; "Mumbo Jumbo" by the late great Paul Motian, and "Pee Wee" by the legendary Tony Williams.

 

Owen Howard: Drum Lore

DRUM LORE features Owen Howard (drums, arrangements), John O'Gallagher (alto sax), Andy Middleton (tenor sax-3, 8, 10 & soprano sax-1, 4, 7), Adam Kolker (tenor sax-3, 4, 6, soprano sax-9, bass clarinet-5, 7, 11), Alan Ferber (trombone-2, 6, 9, 11), Frank Carlberg (piano), Johannes Weidenmueller (bass)

"Owen Howard has put together, from his perspective seat, a fantastic collection of creatively executed compositions by the most influential drummers of our time. Some of the hippest bandleaders and composers in jazz, have come from the drum chair. With Drum Lore, Owen Howard makes a beautiful and honest statement with his ensemble. It captivates you throughout and feels great!!! Bravo . . ." - Joe Lovano

Owen Howard, originally from Edmonton, Canada, has performed and recorded with the likes of Joe Lovano, Kenny Werner, Tom Harrell, Kenny Wheeler, John Abercrombie, Dave Liebman, George Garzone, Dave Holland, Eddie Henderson, Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton and many others. He has appeared on over forty recordings to date, including five under his own name, and has toured extensively throughout Europe, the United States and Canada. He is clearly an artist successfully following in the footsteps of legendary drummers/bandleaders such as Tony Williams, Peter Erskine, Billy Hart, Jack DeJohnette, Paul Motian, Al Foster, Shelly Manne and others, and now with the release of his sixth CD as a leader,Drum Lore (BJURecords), Owen Howard shines a spotlight on the composing talents of these exalted players.

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. Drum Lorealso 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 and feelings one could imagine generating from wood, plastic and metal.

BJUR 050 Owen Howard - Drum Lore Vol. 2 More Lore (CD)
$14.99

John O'Gallagher - alto saxophone
Adam Kolker - tenor & soprano saxophones, bass clarinet
Frank Carlberg - piano
Johannes Weidenmueller - bass
Owen Howard - drums/comp/arr.

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BJUR 017 Owen Howard - Drum Lore (CD)
$14.99

Owen Howard - drums & arrangements
John O'Gallagher - alto sax
Andy Middleton - tenor & soprano sax 
Adam Kolker - tenor sax, soprano sax & bass clarinet
Alan Ferber - trombone
Frank Carlberg - piano
Johannes Weidenmueller - bass

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