A b o u t D o u g Y o w e l
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I was born in Ridgewood, NJ as the last of 6 kids that all played music. There was already a set of drums in the house and at the age of 3 i was completely drawn to both the rhythmic quality of the instrument as well as melody. My father was a jazz musician in the 50's who had the great opportunity of playing with Charlie Parker, Zoot Simms, Gerry Mulligan and many other's. Through his love and encouragement i was given an endless supply of life force to dig in as hard as i wanted. My dad has always been an artist. No matter what he decided to do with his mind and his hands he could create it. It never mattered how difficult it was and through him i realize now that he created an environment to open the imagination as wide as possible and taught me without ever speaking the words that this kind of exploration was completely nomral and necessary to reach the end result. Dad... i love you and i am forever grateful. Jazz for me was influencing the idea that a conversation could be spoken through the instruments and players. The spectrum of music in the house was vast between all of my brothers and sisters who all played and sang ranging from Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Joni Miitchel, Gladis Knight, Ruben Blades, Elton John, James Taylor and on and on. i rememeber vivdily telling my dad at 3 years old that i wanted to be a drummer and that drive and passion never ceased. I had great teachers at a young age and by the time i was 16 years old i was studing with Jazz drumming legend, Peter Erskine who took me under his wing and not only taught me many conceptual approaches but brought me on countless live gigs and recording sessions to watch guys like Michael Brecker, Steps Ahead, Eliane Elias, Bob Mintzer and ao many others including Vince Mendoza for whom i recorded a snare drum etude with Peter to open one of the pieces. The experiences were so imformative as to the curve of live music, working together as an ensemble and being in the moment. I began recording session work at age 14, gaining as much experience as i could with great engineers and producers. Having known David Lasley and Luther Vandross since i was 11 years old, i began working with both of them in the studio and live in LA when i was 20. My first touring experience was with Sophie B. Hawkins which was short lived but will always be with me. Things really started to change when i met NYC bassist and now close friend, Mike Visceglia and guitar great Marc Shulman who both helped me tremendously in fusing my drumming with the art of working with the singer / songwriter. They were completely honest with me about what was needed and what could be improved upon and i found myself working as hard as possible in the NYC scene where i met one of the greatest inlfuences i've had to date, Gerry Leonard. Gerry introduced me to Duncan Shiek to work on a play that was being formed for Broadway called Spring Awakening. At the same time i was called in to record for Suzanne Vega who i had been admiring for years and before i knew it was recording on both of their records and touring with them back to back around the world for the last 10 years. In both situations i was starting to get into the technology of using a laptop live and intergrating it into my set up as an extension of the instrument which has become a whole new world for me. Duncan was a great catalyst for this. My musical appreciation and love for the art of it is a driving force that wakes me up first thing in the morning because i can't wait to start another day. Having a home studio has also been great for me to be able to explore my creativity and at the same time record tracks for people all over the world. I'm very busy touring these days as well as recording countless records, movie soundtracks, jingles etc.I've been fortunate to work with many great artists along the way either appearing on records or sharing the stage. Norah Jones, Phoebe Snow, Joe Jackson, Dav id Poe, Rupert Hine, Jontha Brooke, Vanessa Carlton, Robbie Dupree, Kina Grannis, Kate Havnevik, Jimmy Herring, Ari Hest, Chuck Loeb, Carmen Cuesta - Loeb, Lizzy Loeb, James Maddock, Sean Lennon, Vienna Teng, Richard Julian, Valerie Carter, Cyndi Lauper, Dar Williams, Mark Ronson, Corey Chisel, Katie Costello and many many more. Intermationally i've worked with Donna, Lewis, Eros Ramazzotti, Laura Pausini, Oliver Tuku Mtukudzi, Ximena Sarnina, Delcan O'Rourke and more recently recording a record with Tony Levin and Gerry Leonard for the Czech band Cechomor. Producers such as Kevin Killen and Patrick Leonard have also contributed so much to my knowledge of the process as well as some of the great session players of New York who i'm proud to call friends. My passion for music and drums is increasing every single day.... i'm a seeker of sound and texture. The conventional ideas of this instrument hold no boundary and i'm forever discovering ways to acheive this but nothing is more important to me than feel and dynamic. When you're surrounded by real artists and the love you share is part of the music, a level is reached that can't happen any other way. A person's ears are the most imporitant part of any instrument along with the ability to be present in that moment and only that moment. I live this on a daily basis and play with every ounce of my spirit invested in the song....... stay tuned. There's so much more to come. much love, |
