Greg Burrows

My short bio:

Greg Burrows is an American jazz drummer and World Music percussionist.

He has performed and recorded in numerous musical genres, including Peruvian-style cumbia (“chicha”), Brazilian samba and bossa nova, gospel (in the African-American churches in his home town), punk rock, 1950s rock (with original recording artists such as Little Anthony, The Tokens and others), musical theater/Off-Off-Broadway including a stint with Blue Man Group), experimental and improvisational dance and theater, Italian tarantella and comedia de’l arte, and numerous other areas of American and World Music styles.

His professional career began in 1978 at age 14, when he played his first paid performance with a local ‘psychedelic’ garage band based in his home town of New Rochelle, New York. The band was called Diogenès, and was led by guitarist/lead vocalist Joe DiGiorgi, currently (as of April 2018) manager and chief recording engineer at Headline Studios in Mamaroneck, New York.

Greg was born October 19, 1963 in New Haven, Connecticut. His father is retired professor of music (New York University) David Lamont Burrows (b. 1930), and his mother is Lubow Terlecka Burrows, a classical pianist and retired biology laboratory coordinator at Barnard College in New York City, born in Lviv, Ukraine.

He completed three years of undergraduate studies at the State University of New York (SUNY Purchase) majoring in classical percussion under Ray DesRoches, later focusing on recording studio technology and songwriting/production under Jim McElwaine in the first year of McElwaine’s program at SUNY known as the Studio Comp major.

Jazz pianist Bill Charlap was also an undergraduate student in the Purchase program during part of Greg’s time there. Other pianists who frequented the practice rooms and rehearsal studios at SUNY Purchase (frequently playing with Burrows during this period) were pianists Kevin Hays and Joey Calderazza. Bassist and composer Sean Smith and guitarist Dan Rochlis (living in Madrid, Spain since 1994) were frequent collaborators during this mid-1980s period as well. But his career as a professional jazz drummer began while still in college in 1986, when he joined a series of working bands led by guitarist Sal Salvador. Among numerous notable drummers occupying this post were Steve Gadd, Joe Morello, Dave Weckl, and Todd Straight. Other band members working alongside Greg in Salvador’s groups were bassist Phil Bowler (Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Wynton Marsalis, Melissa Newman), vocalist Barbara Sfraga, and guitarist Mike Giordano, all of whom were part of Sal’s final steady and productive band lineup known as Crystal Image. This band produced a CD called Sal Salvador and Crystal Image, and was focused on playing arrangements created specifically for the band by arranger Hank Levy. This recording was produced by Teo Macero, known for his innovative work with Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, and numerous others throughout the 1950s-60s. When Greg left Salvador’s group in 1990 to join bands led by Nana Simopoulos and other freelance projects, he was replaced by drummer Sherrie Maricle (leader of the band Diva).

Between 1993-96, Burrows was drummer and percussionist with singer/songwriter Sloan Wainwright, of the well known Wainwright clan which includes singers Rufus and his father Loudon. The group performed at favorite New York area venues in the world of rock, folk and pop, such as The Towne Crier, The Turning Point, and three appearances at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival in Upstate New York. Greg played on several Sloan Wainwright recordings, such as her self-titled debut CD released in the mid-1990s. Band mates included vocalist Liadain Clancy and bassist Doug Wray.

Prior to his college studies, Greg took private lessons with Henry Adler, Bob Moses, Dave Weckl, and Joe Morello. He currently takes occasional lessons with Mike Clark (Herbie Hancock/freelance).

From 1997-2002, Burrows completed five years of training in Taketina (also known as Ta Ke Ti Na), a group rhythm process that enables total beginners as well as seasoned musicians to experience and create advanced polyrhythms using voice, handclaps, movement and group exercises. The practice includes elements of transpersonal work, personal development, and community/group bonding. Taketina was created by Austrian percussionist and composer Reinhard Flatischler. It is widely known in Western Europe and is gaining prominence in the United States, Australia, Brazil and elsewhere. Greg’s Taketina activity has grown quiet throughout the 2010s but he has expressed interest in restarting his practice with group workshops and private lessons in the New York City region.

In 2015, Greg joined the Connecticut-based band led by bassist Brian Torff (Mary Lou Williams, George Shearing, freelance) called Brian Q. Torff & New Duke, taking over the post vacated by the tragic, premature demise of drummer Don Mulvaney. The band has since performed on live national television (CBS) and released an album in 2017 called Post-Authentic World, produced by Steve Katz (founder of Blood Sweat & Tears/Lou Reed). The band features vocalist Darryl Tookes, pianist Dave Childs, and a four-piece horn section.

In 2017, Burrows became an endorser of Canopus Drum Co. products (based in Japan, with global distribution). He performs and records exclusively using Canopus drums and hardware, and favors hand-hammered U.S.-made cymbals such as those produced by the Ottaviano Cymbal Co.

In April of 2018, Greg released his first jazz album as leader, titled Tell Your Story. The album features Dave Childs on piano, Bob DeVos on guitar, Harvie S on bass, Jamie Finegan on trumpet, and John Fumasoli on trombone. The recording was produced by 2018 NEA Jazz Master Todd Barkan and was released independently on GreBu Records.

Greg Burrows - American jazz drummer

This article "Greg Burrows" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Greg Burrows. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

---