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Alan Dawson

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American jazz drummer

This article is about the jazz drummer. For the South African cricketer, seeAlan Dawson (cricketer). For the Australian rules footballer, seeAlan Dawson (footballer).

Alan Dawson
Dawson in a 1972DownBeat advertisement
Background information
Born	(1929-07-14)July 14, 1929 Marietta,Pennsylvania, U.S.
Origin	Roxbury,Boston,Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	February 23, 1996(1996-02-23) (aged 66)
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician,teacher
Instrument	Drums
Years active	1951–1996

Musical artist

Alan Dawson (July 14, 1929^[1] – February 23, 1996)^[2] was an Americanjazz drummer and percussion teacher based inBoston.

Biography

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Dawson was born inMarietta, Pennsylvania^[1] and raised inRoxbury, Massachusetts. Serving in theU.S. Army during theKorean War, he played with the Army Dance Band while stationed atFort Dix from 1951 to 1953. During his tenure, Dawson explored thepost-bop era by performing with pianistSabby Lewis.^[1] After being discharged from the army, Dawson toured Europe withLionel Hampton.^[1]

In early 1960, he was based inBoston for a regular engagement with John Neves, bass, and Leroy Flander, piano.^[3]

Dawson was an early teacher of drummersTony Williams^[1] and Joseph Smyth, known for his work with theSawyer Brown country music group. Other students includedTerri Lyne Carrington,Julian Vaughn,Vinnie Colaiuta,Steve Smith,Kenwood Dennard,Gerry Hemingway,Jeff Sipe,Billy Kilson,Joe Farnsworth,Bob Gullotti,Casey Scheuerell, and many others. Dawson began teaching atBerklee College of Music in 1957.^[1] He suffered a ruptured disc in 1975 which led to him halting his touring schedule, to leave Berklee and limit his teaching to his home inLexington, Massachusetts.

Dawson's teaching style emphasized the music as a whole, rather than concentrating on percussion alone. He stressed the importance of learning the melody and structure of the tune to better fulfill the role of accompaniment. For this purpose, he had students play over standards while also singing the melody out loud. He constantly strived for balance between musical ideas and strict technique. He was big onrudiments and wrote extensive exercises intended to be practiced with brushes. He believed using brushes with his "Rudimental Ritual" would reduce stick rebound, allowing the sense of "picking up" the sticks.

While teaching, Dawson also maintained a prolific performing and recording career. Dawson was the house drummer for Lennie's on the Turnpike inPeabody, Massachusetts, from 1963 through 1970. This gig allowed him to perform with a diverse group of jazz artists.^[1] Throughout the 1960s, Dawson recorded almost exclusively with saxophonistBooker Ervin onPrestige Records. In 1968, Dawson replacedJoe Morello in theDave Brubeck Quartet and continued until 1972. His performance credits also included stints withBill Evans,Sonny Rollins,Jaki Byard,Sonny Stitt,Dexter Gordon,Lee Konitz,Quincy Jones,Charles Mingus, andTal Farlow.^[1]