Chris Howard

The history of music is retold in the playing of the drummer and hand-percussionist Chris Howard. A successful traps drummer, with many years of widely varied working experience, Chris has long been pursuing the field of hand percussion from all around the world. He is a much sought after percussionist, a standout on both the basic drum set and many instruments from around the world, prized not only as a player, but also as an educator, and a clinician. In fact, Chris is at the forefront of drummers who bring traps fluency and an avidity for handheld percussion to the same music, often carrying many instruments to the same gig, creating fresh sonic reconciliations and creative new departures. Chris is an educated percussionist in the best possible sense. Formally taught and a devotee of musical styles of every corner of the world, from ancient times to the cutting edge present, he has been working constantly, on a plethora of bandstands and in countless recording studios, for the better part of two decades. Chris lives his professional life by the truism that the bare bone elements undergirding all music, the building block materials of color, rhythm and timekeeping, always carry through, whatever the musical genre and style. Chris Howard brings all his accrued wisdom into his own progressive jazz trio, The Blur Division. At the same time, he is a regular presence with such disparate musicians as the award winning singer/songwriter Rupert Wates, the Billboard topping Four Celtic Voices, the rumba flamenco of Jason and Elysa Hochman, the neo-funk/hip-hop of Lee, and the exploratory hard rock of Under Radio, among many others. Chris brings a world of knowledge along with instruments from around the world to a wide array of musical assignments. His playing is respectful of his forebears, always in the moment, and for all the surprising fusions he can bring to a gig, invariably appropriate to the music he is propelling forward, whatever the circumstances.