Alan Dawson (July 14, 1929
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.[Down Beat, 1960/03/31 issue]
Dawson was an early teacher of drummers Tony Williams
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 drum 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.
Dawson died of leukemia on February 23, 1996.
Discography
As leader
As a sideman
With Dave Brubeck
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Dave Brubeck and Gerry Mulligan: Compadres (Columbia, 1968)
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Blues Roots (Columbia, 1968)
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The Gates of Justice (Decca, 1969)
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Brubeck/Mulligan/Cincinnati (Decca, 1970)
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Summit Sessions (Columbia, 1970)
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Live at the Berlin Philharmonie (Columbia Records, 1970)
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The Last Set at Newport (Atlantic Records, 1971)
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We're All Together Again for the First Time (Atlantic, 1973)
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All the Things We Are (Atlantic, 1973–74 1976)
With Jaki Byard
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Jaki Byard Quartet Live! (Prestige Records, 1965)
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The Last from Lennie's (Prestige, 1965 2003)
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Freedom Together! (Prestige, 1966)
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Jaki Byard with Strings! (Prestige, 1968)
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The Jaki Byard Experience (Prestige, 1968)
With Arnett Cobb
With Al Cohn
With Sonny Criss
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This is Criss! (Prestige, 1966)
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Portrait of Sonny Criss (Prestige, 1967)
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The Beat Goes On! (Prestige, 1968)
With Booker Ervin
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The Freedom Book (Prestige, 1963)
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The Song Book (Prestige, 1964)
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The Blues Book (Prestige, 1964)
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The Space Book (Prestige, 1964)
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Groovin' High (Prestige, 1963–64)
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The Trance (Prestige, 1965)
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Setting the Pace (Prestige, 1965) – with Dexter Gordon
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Heavy!!! (Prestige, 1966)
With Frank Foster
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Fearless Frank Foster (Prestige, 1965)
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Soul Outing! (Prestige, 1966)
With Terry Gibbs
With Dexter Gordon
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The Panther! (Prestige, 1970)
With Gigi Gryce & Clifford Brown
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Gigi Gryce And His Big Band, Vol. 1 (Blue Note, 1954)
With Lionel Hampton
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Lionel Hampton And His Orchestra Live In Sweden (Century/Stash, 1953)
With Illinois Jacquet
With Hank Jones
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Compassion (Black & Blue, 1978)
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Bluesette (Black & Blue, 1979)
With Quincy Jones
With Eric Kloss
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Grits & Gravy (Prestige, 1966)
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First Class Kloss! (Prestige, 1967)
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Life Force (Prestige, 1967)
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We're Goin' Up (Prestige, 1967)
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In the Land of the Giants (Prestige, 1969)
With Junior Mance
"With Charles McPherson'
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Con Alma! (Prestige, 1965)
With James Moody
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Don't Look Away Now! (Prestige, 1969)
With Houston Person
With Jimmy Raney
With Sonny Rollins
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Live in '65 & '68 (DVD) (NAXOS, 2008)
With Sonny Stitt
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Tune-Up! (Cobblestone, 1972)
With Buddy Tate
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Live at Sandy's (Muse, 1978 1980)
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Hard Blowin' (Muse, 1978 1984)
With The Cryan' Shames
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Synthesis (Columbia, 1968)
With Warren Vaché Jr.
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Iridescence (Concord Jazz, 1981 1999)
With Eddie Vinson
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Live at Sandy's (Muse, 1978 1981)
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Hold It Right There! (Muse, 1978 1984)
With Phil Woods
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Musique du Bois (Muse, 1974)
External links
