Will Calhoun

 An article with Will Calhoun


Music is life. It is the things you experience. Life, love, stress, magic moments, moments that go down the drain. It’s no different than life.  I hear music when I’m not playing. I feel life when I play.

Music and spirituality came together in my life. Perhaps I wasn’t aware of the music at first.

The drums chose me. My influence was my older brother. He played very well and went professional at 13-14 years of age. There was a lot of musical talent in my neighborhood too. We lived in a two family house and my mother designated the first floor as a rehearsal- and performance studio. I saw my brother play all kinds of music there. I didn’t want to be a drummer at the time. But then my brother started to lose interest while I started to gain interest. In the beginning I played in my mother’s home and in the gospel choir.

I went professional at 16. I went to see Billy Cobham at the Bottom Line. It was a great venue. I was excited to see Billy Cobham. My uncle took me. He was a large man. He looked like a security guard, and he cleared the way for me. Suddenly back stage I saw Miles Davis. He hadn’t been for 6 years at the time. I was startled. My uncle told me to say hello to Miles, but I couldn’t talk. Miles said ‘’The young man who doesn’t speak’’, or something along those lines, to me. After that I went home and quit my sports teams, took a job, changed my life. My thought was ‘’I have to get to work now’’. Horace Arnold became my teacher, and he introduce me to the heroes of mine.

Last year I celebrated 25 years with Living Colour. I love working in that sphere of sound and in an environment affected by politics. Right now we are finishing a new CD. It is currently being mixed, and we plan on releasing it in the fall. We start touring again September 18.

With my band Will Calhoun Trio I have made a new recording titled ‘’Life In This World’’. I do a lot of music and produce, but jazz is my first love. And I love playing trios. I have travelled in the search for other percussive sounds and signatures. I have been to Mali, Senegal, Morocco. I bring a little of it to my live experience.

We have also started on the new Stone Raiders-record. Jean-Paul and Darryl have started ahead of me on that one.

 

Will Calhoun and Living Colour celebrating 25 years (2013)

Will Calhoun Trio: Will Calhoun, Marc Cary and Charnett Moffett at Blue Note

 

 

Having celebrated twenty-five years with Living Colour, Grammy Award-winning drummer Will Calhoun has also collaborated with a long list of the most established artists in music, been elected Best Drummer by Rolling Stone Magazine’s Critics Poll, and recorded solo projects.

Find out more HERE