Quamon Fowler

Quamon Fowler was born, reared and educated in the great city of Fort Worth, Texas. His musical journey started with an elementary school music program, orchestra and band in junior high school, then high school band. He began listening to various types of music and duplicating that music by practicing relentlessly from the age of twelve. He begin composing music at fifteen. His endless practicing and quest to achieve paid off. He earned first chair tenor saxophone in the All-State Jazz Ensemble in 1998.

He won twice in the NAACP ACT-SO competition. He won first, in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1996, and again in Atlanta, Georgia in 1998, competing in the jazz category.

After graduating from O.D. Wyatt High School, Quamon attended Weatherford College where he was directed by jazz guitarist, Tom Burchill. A year later, Quamon felt he needed to extend his music studies, so he decided to attend Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There he studied with world- renowned jazz clarinetist and educator, Alvin Batiste. Mr. Batiste was a great mentor and encouragement to Quamon. He performed with Mr. Batiste around Baton Rouge and New Orleans. In May of 2000, Mr. Batiste encouraged Quamon to produce a CD, so Quamon released his first independent CD project in July of 2000, Introducing Quamon Fowler. The project combined straight-ahead jazz and soul to create a unique sound while reflecting his musical expertise as a developing artist.

In the spring of 2001 Quamon was selected by Very Special Arts as a Panasonic Young Soloist. This award allowed him to perform for the first time at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. He has always yearned for others to be more exposed to his music so he applied to be a part of the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program as well and was selected twice as a participant in spring of 2002 & 2003. While traveling and performing, Quamon was inspired as a writer to compose an energetic and aggressive composition, "The Reinforcement." This piece was selected as one of the top three compositions by Billy Harper, Maria Schneider, and Cecil Bridgewater in the first annual ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer’s Awards Competition. As a recipient of the ASCAP Award, he was able to perform at the ASCAP headquarters in New York as a part of the annual Jazz Wall of Fame induction ceremony. The following year he won again with his composition, "Special Delivery" and "Within A Love So True" in 2008.

Quamon has grown accustomed to hard work and multi-tasking as a traveling performer, composer and student. 2004 was a banner year! Quamon was married, finished with his Music degree from Southern, had traveled to Dubai, recorded a new CD, The Vision, had participated in more jazz programs and started his Master’s degree at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. While his wife worked on her Ph.D., he earned his Master’s Degree in Music Performance (of course). Momentum continued in 2005. He won the North American Saxophone Alliance Jazz Competition in Des Moines, IO. As a teaching assistant at Tech, he managed to juggle teaching small groups, jazz improv, and tour with Curtis Fuller & Marcus Belgrave, James Moody & Nathan Davis, and other artists nationally and internationally.

In 2006, Quamon started a non-profit organization, Core Instrumental Music - Music After God's Own Heart. The organization is designed to help mentor young aspiring musicians, to become accountable in their music, business, finances and their divine purpose. Presently, Quamon is working on fine- tuning his organization, continuing to record, compose, perform, and travel the world.

Awards

2008 3rd Place Winner in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Saxophone Competition
2005 1st Place Winner of the North American Saxophone Alliance Jazz Saxophone Competition

Gear

Bari Mouthpeices, PreSonus Audio