Grammy Award Winning Chris Dave & His Drumhedz Play Free Show March 6 + Free Download

Drummer Chris Dave is one of the most revered and in demand musicians of his generation. His eccentric approach to the drum set and his ability to adapt to any musical setting, whether jazz, hip hop or R&B, has put him in a category of his own.

Dave has toured and recorded with some of music’s most established and iconic artists including Adele, Maxwell, D’Angelo, Beyoncé, Terence Blanchard, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Donald Brown, Kenny Garrett, MF Doom, Bilal, Me’shell N’Degeocello, Lalah Hathaway, Sonny Rollins, the Robert Glasper Trio/Experiment, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Common, Jill Scott, A Tribe Called Quest, Dianne Reeves, Lupe Fiasco, Sa Ra, Yolanda Adams, and many more.

Chris Dave plays Tulane's Dixon Hall on March 6

Born in Houston, Texas, Chris Dave, also known as Chris “Daddy” Dave, began his music career in the late 1980s. He started, like many musicians, playing in church. Although gospel music was an important facilitator of Dave’s early style development, he credits jazz music as his strongest influence. As a teenager, his father exposed him to the music of jazz legends like Miles Davis and John Coltrane. He eventually blossomed on the drums, graduating from Houston’s prestigious High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, which also boasts alumni like pianist Jesse McBride, who currently leads Harold Battiste’s “The Next Generation” in New Orleans; 2013 Grammy-nominated pianist Robert Glasper; pianist and MacArthur “Genius” fellow Jason Moran; multiple Grammy award-winning performer Beyoncé Knowles, and many more.

He then studied at Howard University in Washington D.C., where he met acclaimed producers and former Prince associates Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Through this relationship, Dave began working with the renowned R&B band Mint Condition, and his assent as one of the greatest drummers in the world began to take shape in the 2000s.

Chris Dave’s open interpretations of rhythm and his ability to conform to each musical setting have led him to world-class showcases; recent projects include his contribution as the featured drummer on Adele’s album 21, which won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 2012; on Maxwell’s Grammy-winning BLACKsummers’night; on the 2013 Grammy-winning Black Radio by the Robert Glasper Experiment; and as the music director for D’Angelo’s 2012 “comeback tour.” As a bandleader, Dave recently released his “mixtape,” Glow presents Chris Dave and the Drumhedz (2013), available for FREE DOWNLOAD online at chris-dave.com.