Lewis Nash

Although Lewis Nash has played the drums on more than 200 recordings, he has only one CD, recorded in 1989, under his own name. The title says it all: Rhythm Is My Business. Born in 1958 in Phoenix, AZ, Nash was destined to leave his hometown for New York to play with some of the greatest stars of the history of modern jazz.

The talented young drummer played the drums in Phoenix, before moving to New York in 1981. In this jazz mecca, Nash had the incredibly good fortune to join Betty Carter's band when he was just 23 years old, giving him the opportunity to hone his chops with world-class musicians like Benny Green, Stephen Scott, and Don Braden. Carter was known for her insistence on the absolute best from her musicians, and Nash grew as a musician and as a performer under her tutelage. He appears on many of her recordings, including the Grammy Award-winning 1988 CD, Look What I Got.

It was his decade with the Tommy Flanagan Trio for which Nash may be best known. The legendary Flanagan is on record as having preferred to work with the intuitive, always-ready Nash more than any other drummer. Along with Flanagan on piano, and Peter Washington on bass, the trio created some of the most memorable jazz recordings of the 1990s. Sea Changes (1996), Lady Be Good...For Ella 1994, and Live At the Village Vanguard (1998) are just three of the trio's outstanding albums.

Throughout that decade, Nash also performed with a veritable who's who of jazz luminaries, including Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Wynton Marsalis, Oscar Peterson, McCoy Tyner, Branford Marsalis, Bud Shank, Scott Hamilton, Jackie McLean, Cyrus Chestnut, and Horace Silver, to name only a few.

In the late '90s, Nash started branching out. He formed his own group, the Lewis Nash Ensemble, comprised of Nash, along with Jimmy Green on saxophone; David Finck on bass; Steve Nelson on vibraphone; and Steve Kroon on percussion. Among the group's many accomplishments is their two year stint with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Program, performing in the New York public school system. Providing inspiration and expertise to students is an important part of Nash's career. In 2001, he became a member of the faculty at the prestigious Juilliard School of Music.

As with any good teacher, Nash continues to learn as well. One such growth experience is his collaboration with David O'Rourke on a project to take traditional Irish music and address it in the jazz idiom. Their Celtic Jazz Collective released a CD in 2001: Celtic Jazz Collective: IsLinn (A Vision). In addition to Nash and O'Rourke, the recording features uilleann pipe master, Paddy Keenan; Regina Carter on violin; Martin Reilly on accordion; Marie Reilly and Fiona Doherty on fiddles; pianist, Fintan O'Neill; Niall Vallely on concertina; along with Peter Washington and Ronan Guilfoyle, both on bass; and Steve Kroon on percussion. The group has taken two diverse musical traditions, and synergized them into something new and exciting. That is just the way things seem to go in the life of Lewis Nash, whose business is rhythm.

from Wikipedia:

Lewis Nash (born December 30, 1958) is an American jazz drummer. According to Modern Drummer magazine, Nash has one of the longest discographies in jazz. and has played on over 400 records by musicians, earning him the honor of being named Jazz's Most Valuable Player by the magazine in its May, 2009 issue.

Nash is noted for his adaptability to a vast array of genres, as evidenced by his performances with such different musicians as Tommy Flanagan, Melissa Manchester, Diana Krall, and George Michael.

Biography

Early years

Nash grew up in Phoenix Arizona, where he was encouraged by his high school band teacher to develop his interests as a jazz musician. By the age of 18, Nash had regular work with visiting musicians to Phoenix. At age 22, when Betty Carter invited him to relocate to New York City and join her backing band, he accepted. Nash became a highly in-demand sideman during this period, and since his tenure with Carter, has recorded and toured with a vast array of highly regarded jazz musicians.

Collaborations with other musicians (incomplete)

Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Stitt, Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, Ray Brown, Gerald Wilson, Horace Silver, Ron Carter, Hank Jones, Benny Carter, Milt Jackson, Art Farmer, McCoy Tyner, Wynton Marsalis, Clark Terry, Joe Williams, Nancy Wilson, Kenny Burrell, Jimmy Heath, and John Lewis. In addition, he has recorded with Willie Nelson, Natalie Cole, Bette Midler and Linda Ronstadt.

Nash has made 4 recordings as bandleader: Rhythm is My Business (1989), It Don't Mean A Thing (2003 Japanese import) and Stompin' At The Savoy (2005 Japanese import) and Lewis Nash and the Bebop All-Stars featuring Frank Wess (2008 Japanese Import).

In 2008, Nash became part of The Blue Note 7, a septet formed that year in honor of the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. The group recorded an album in 2008, entitled Mosaic, which was released in 2009 on Blue Note Records/EMI, and toured the United States in promotion of the album from January through April 2009.[1] The group plays the music of Blue Note Records from various artists, with arrangements by members of the band and Renee Rosnes.