Shawn Myers - The Silent Life (2019)

Award winning, New Orleans-based drummer, composer and band leader Shawn Myers will release “The Silent Life,” his debut album as a leader on March 12, 2019. The album features 10 original compositions of Myers’ and a diverse line-up of some of New Orleans’ top musicians.

“The Silent Life” refers to a concept outlined by Hazrat Inayat Khan in the book The Mysticism of Sound and Music, where all vibrations and life arise from the stillness of nothing. Myers is joined by an intergenerational ensemble of his closest collaborators to explore these spiritual and aesthetic ideals.. “The Silent Life” combines the sounds of Black American Music, Haitian Voudou, West African Voudou, and Electronic Ambience.

On each track, Myers augments the classic quartet sound to feature guest performers, including New Orleans saxophone heavyweight Ed Petersen on “Lake Solidute,” Haitian master drummer, Damas “Fanfan” Louis on “A Lone Beach” and “Arroyo Laguna,” and rising star vocalist Mckenna Alicia on half of the album.

Based in New Orleans, Shawn Myers currently tours nationally and internationally with multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Leyla McCalla, and maintains an active local performing schedule. He has performed with many local and international luminaries, including Dave Liebman, Kenny Werner, Roland Guerin, Nduduzo Makhathini, Andrew Duhon, and Sarah Quintana. He has studied drums and percussion with Billy Hart, Jamey Haddad, Jason Marsalis, and in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Haiti.