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Andrew Drury

I am a drummer, composer, improviser, and educator. My work is animated by a lifelong fascination with rhythm, space, and a drum-based sensibility for melody and energy.

I was born and raised in the Seattle area, and studied with Ed Blackwell, Bill Lowe, Bill Barron, Robert O'Meally, and the writer Annie Dillard when I was at Wesleyan University in the 1980s. In those years I played with a diverse assortment of musicians including Brad Mehldau, Steve Davis, Nat Reeves, Thomas Chapin, Joe Fonda, Mario Pavone, Wes Brown, David Bindman, Dicky Wells, Chris Lightcap, Matt Moran, Paul Flaherty, Michael Attias, Anthony Braxton, Jackie McLean, and Wadada Leo Smith.

I also work in genres and formats that fall outside what's typically considered jazz. My Earth Solos are an ongoing series (initially inspired by Robert Smithson's Six Mirror Displacements) of outdoor, site-specific drum set improvisations performed and photographed in desert, mountain, and industrial settings in the western US. I make electro-acoustic sound collages using field recordings and percussion samples—these have accompanied dances by Heather Kravas and Sheri Cohen at DTW, Oberlin College, and Seattle. I've also done street theater in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and Mexico, among other things.

As a freelance educator I have led nearly 1,000 junk percussion workshops and residencies in the US and Central America, in prisons, schools, theaters, Indian reservations, museums, and elsewhere. For six months in 2000 I was 'Millennium Project' Artist-in-Residence with the Oneida Nation on their reservation in Wisconsin. I was a roster artist-in-residence with the Washington State Arts Commission for four years, and since 2002 I have taught composition in the NYC public schools via the Manhattan New Music Project, Carnegie Hall Weill Institute, and others.

Recent projects as a leader:

—Performing as a soloist using floor tom and various objects

—Content Provider a horn + drums quartet with Peter Evans, Briggan Krauss, Chris Speed.

—KJOSA featuring Kyoko Kitamura (vocal/laptop), Jane Rigler (flutes/laptop), Jason Kao Hwang (violin/viola), Oscar Noriega (clarinet/bass clarinet), Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon), and myself.

Other recent bands & projects:

—Jason Kao Hwang's EDGE—JKH (violin/viola/composer), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet/flugelhorn), Ken Filiano (bass).

—Jason Kao Hwang's Burning Bridge— JKH (violin/viola/composer), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet), Ken Filiano (bass), me (drums), Steve Swell (trombone), Joseph Daley (tuba), Sun Li (pipa), Wang Guo-wei (erhu).

—Jason Kao Hwang's Spontaneous River—a 35+ member string orchestra with drum set.

—TOTEM> Bruce Eisenbeil (guitar), Tom Blancarte (bass), me (drums)

—IRON DOG Sarah Bernstein (violin/electronics), Stuart Popejoy (bass/electronics), me (drums)

—10^32K, a trio with Kuumba Frank Lacy (tbn/flugelhorn), Kevin Ray (bass), me (drums). J.D. Parran and Elliott Sharp play with us too.

In Real Time: Blue Shift

Read "Blue Shift" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
February 25, 2022

Blueshift is a term employed by astronomers to describe an object that is moving toward another object or toward us. It is determined by measuring tiny shifts in the wavelengths of light coming from said object(s). This movement is not detectable by the naked eye but Blue Shift, the first adventure by the In Real Time trio of pianist Carol Liebowitz, bassist Adam Lane, and drummer Andrew Drury sure as hell make it heard. Collectively the New York ...

Album Review

Jason Kao Hwang: Human Rites Trio

Read "Human Rites Trio" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
September 20, 2021

Chattering dances. That's the first image that springs to mind when encountering Human Rites Trio, the fascinating new music from prolific violinist/composer Jason Kao Hwang and his rhythmic, shapeshifting compatriots, drummer Andrew Drury and bassist Ken Filiano. Building on a freneticism all their own, the opening two-part suite “Words Asleep Spoken Awake" is a hyper-active, many headed hydra of spontaneous interplay. Counterpoint groove and muscle memory all come into play with Hwang's sound moving from mournful strains to ...

Album Review

Jason Kao Hwang: Human Rites Trio

Read "Human Rites Trio" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky

by Dan Bilawsky
July 4, 2020

Observance is at the heart of violinist Jason Kao Hwang's work, and no two musicians respect and fulfill the promise in his ritualistic art to the degree of bassist Ken Filiano and drummer Andrew Drury. The relationship between these three has traversed time and space(s), manifesting in a sea of strings for Symphony of Souls (Mulatta Records, 2011), playing to poetic notions on Lifelines (Innova Recordings, 2015), taking on a horn and harmonist in Sing House (Euonymus Records, 2017) and ...

Multiple Reviews

A provocative pair of releases from drummer Andrew Drury: Content Provider and The Drum

by Hrayr Attarian
May 6, 2015

There is no doubt that Andrew Drury is one of most innovative and bold drummers on the modern music scene. Over a career spanning two decades he has pushed the boundaries of his kit and has also emerged as an adventurous improviser and composer. With two provocative releases on Soup and Sound label Drury exhibits the breadth and depth of his superb artistry. Andrew Drury Content Provider Soup And Sound Recordings 2015

Album Review

Andrew Drury: Content Provider

Read "Content Provider" reviewed by Dave Wayne

by Dave Wayne
April 3, 2015

On the wittily-titled Content Provider, Seattle-born, NYC- based drummer and composer Andrew Drury leads a remarkable band consisting of saxophonists Briggan Krauss (best-known for his work with Sex Mob) and Ingrid Laubrock, and gonzo electric guitarist Brandon Seabrook. Despite lacking a bassist (Seabrook provides some bass- line like figures here and there) it's a small band with a very big sound. A student of the late Ed Blackwell, Drury is best known for his work as a ...

Album Review

Andrew Drury: Content Provider

Read "Content Provider" reviewed by Glenn Astarita

by Glenn Astarita
January 14, 2015

New York-based jazz and avant-garde drummer, Andrew Drury largely performs with the crème de la crème of likeminded artistes, and has assembled one heck of a band for his latest solo venture. Drury is firmly embedded in the global improvising scene and has performed with a who's who of current jazz and improv pioneers. In-between duties as an A-list drummer in the US and abroad, he puts his composer hat on, and is someone you can often count on to ...

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Interview

Andrew Drury: The Cool Thing About Improvisation

by Jason West
May 15, 2006

A few months ago I went back to Suquamish Elementary. Located on the Port Madison Indian Reservation, I hadn't been back since I was a student there 30-plus years ago. Nixon was president then. His black and white portrait photo greeted students at the main entrance. I'd look up at his face and zero in on that Pinocchio nose. Some kid had thrown a glob of putty smack in the center of the photo, on the tip of Tricky Dick's ...

Performance / Tour

Andrew Drury Group at I Beam on July 10th

Source: All About Jazz
June 30, 2009

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Performance / Tour

Wade Matthews-Reuben Radding-Andrew Drury US Tour

Source: All About Jazz
November 25, 2006

Matthews, Radding, Drury, an electroacoustic trio featuring Wade Matthews (laptop, alto flute, bass clarinet), Reuben Radding (bass), and Andrew Drury (floor tom + objects) will be on tour in the US from Nov 30 to Dec 10. Don't miss this rare treat to hear these internationally acclaimed musicians.

Nov30 - Champaign, IL - Krannert Art Museum (Univ of IL) Dec1 - Chicago, IL - Heaven Gallery Dec2 - Milwaukee, WI - Hotcakes Gallery Dec3 ...
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Performance / Tour

Andrew Drury Trio at Roulette Friday, December 3, 8:30 p.m.

Source: All About Jazz
November 11, 2004

ANDREW DRURY TRIO featuring BRIGGAN KRAUSS and MYRA MELFORD to perform at ROULETTE at LOCATION ONE Friday, December 3, 8:30 p.m. 20 Greene St., NYC (1/2 block north of Canal) $12 door $8 students FREE Roulette members Reservations 212.219.8242 BRIGGAN KRAUSS (alto saxophone) MYRA MELFORD (piano) ANDREW DRURY (drum set, composer) The Andrew Drury Trio featuring alto saxophonist ...
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…the massively unheralded drummer Andrew Drury continually proves his touch with each stroke. Jay Collins, Cadence

“(an) outstanding jazz and experimental percussionist…” Timeout NY

… extremely imaginative… …expansive and intimate…something to place alongside … Burkhard Beins, Tatsuya Nakatani, and Le Quan Ninh. Jason Bivins, Signal to Noise

Primary Instrument

Drums

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Beginner to advanced

Credentials/Background

I studied with Ed Blackwell for years, and took one lesson with Alan Dawson. My teaching reflects my learning through these two masters, plus my own experiences. I teach private students in New York City and as I travel. Contact me for details.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Clinics are aimed at students and music teachers. I have presented workshops across the U.S. and in Europe and Central America on the following subjects: Junk Percussion workshop Improvisation workshop Small Ensemble workshop Extended Techniques for Drummers Engaging Students through Drumming—for Artists & Teachers Junk Percussion & the Classroom—for school music teachers