Alan Dawson


Alan Dawson was an American jazz drummer and percussion teacher based in Boston.

Biography

Dawson was born in Marietta, Pennsylvania and raised in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, he played with the Army Dance Band while stationed at Fort Dix from 1951 to 1953. During his tenure, Dawson explored the post-bop era by performing with pianist Sabby Lewis. After being discharged from the army, Dawson toured Europe with Lionel Hampton.
In early 1960, he was based in Boston for a regular engagement with John Neves, bass, and Leroy Flander, piano.
Dawson was an early teacher of drummers Tony Williams and Joseph Smyth, known for his work with the Sawyer Brown country music group. Other students included Terri Lyne Carrington, Julian Vaughn, Vinnie Colaiuta, Steve Smith, Kenwood Dennard, Gerry Hemingway, Jeff Sipe, Marco Giovino, Billy Kilson, Joe Farnsworth, Bob Gullotti, Casey Scheuerell, and many others. Dawson began teaching at Berklee College of Music in 1957. 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 in Lexington, 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 on rudiments 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 in Peabody, Massachusetts, from 1963 through 1970. This gig allowed him to perform with a diverse group of jazz artists. Throughout the 1960s, Dawson recorded almost exclusively with saxophonist Booker Ervin on Prestige Records. In 1968, Dawson replaced Joe Morello in the Dave Brubeck Quartet and continued until 1972. His performance credits also included stints with Bill Evans, Sonny Rollins, Jaki Byard, Sonny Stitt, Dexter Gordon, Lee Konitz, Quincy Jones, Charles Mingus, and Tal Farlow.
Dawson died of leukemia on February 23, 1996.

Discography

As leader

  • ''Waltzin' with Flo''

    As a sideman

With Dave Brubeck
With Jaki Byard
  • Jaki Byard Quartet Live!
  • The Last from Lennie's
  • Freedom Together!
  • Jaki Byard with Strings!
  • The Jaki Byard Experience
With Arnett Cobb
  • Live at Sandy's!
With Al Cohn
  • Play It Now
With Sonny Criss
  • This is Criss!
  • Portrait of Sonny Criss
  • The Beat Goes On!
With Booker Ervin
With Frank Foster
With Terry Gibbs
  • Bopstacle Course
With Dexter Gordon
  • The Panther!
With Gigi Gryce & Clifford Brown
With Lionel Hampton
With Illinois Jacquet
  • Go Power!
  • Bottoms Up
With Hank Jones
  • Compassion
  • Bluesette
With Quincy Jones
  • Jazz Abroad
With Eric Kloss
With Junior Mance
  • Harlem Lullaby
  • I Believe to My Soul
"With Charles McPherson
  • Con Alma!
With James Moody
With Houston Person
  • Chocomotive
With Jimmy Raney
  • Momentum
With Sonny Rollins
With Sonny Stitt
  • Tune-Up!
With Buddy Tate
  • Live at Sandy's
  • Hard Blowin
With The Cryan' Shames
  • Synthesis
With Warren Vaché Jr.
  • Iridescence
With Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson
  • Live at Sandy's
  • Hold It Right There!
With Phil Woods
  • ''Musique du Bois''