Biography

ANDREW DRURY is a drummer, improviser, composer, and bandleader as well as a presenter, producer, educator, and a pioneer of extended techniques for percussion. Rooted in a fascination for Jazz and African-diasporic creativity that began in childhood, and further inspired by a nearly decade-long mentorship with the drummer Ed Blackwell, Drury’s work is in the tradition of those who inspired him in that it doesn’t conform to fixed limitations and always explores the infinite. Originally from Seattle, he lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Drury performs as a soloist, leads the quartet Content Provider, leads large ensembles, produces audio and video work, and collaborates with adventurous musicians and artists in many contexts. He has performed in 30 countries and on nearly 80 recordings. He has presented over 130 concerts (with excellent soup) in his Soup & Sound music series in his home in Brooklyn and in neighborhoods around Brooklyn and co-founded and runs the non-profit organization, Continuum Culture & Arts. He has given masterclasses in 20 universities on three continents, and has led over 1,500 workshops in schools, prisons, museums, homeless shelters, shelters for battered women, with Kurdish refugees in Germany, on Indian reservations (including the Oneida Nation where he was artist-in-residence for six months in 2000) and in remote villages in Guatemala and Nicaragua. His work has consistently received critical acclaim throughout his career.

Over the years he has had the pleasure of playing with great artists, well-known and obscure, including Christine Abdelnour, Kris Davis, Michel Doneda, Mark Dresser, Peter Evans, Satoko Fujii, Charles Gayle, Craig Harris, Wayne Horvitz, Earl Howard, Howard Johnson, Eyvind Kang, Mazen Kerbaj, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Annea Lockwood, Jessica Lurie, Myra Melford, Butch Morris, Aruán Ortiz, Jay Rodriguez, Tomeka Reid, Stephanie Richards, Roswell Rudd, Elliott Sharp, Wally Shoup, Wadada Leo Smith, Steve Swell, John Tchicai, Reggie Watts, Nate Wooley, and Jack Wright, to name a few.