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ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Awards 2004/2005
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24, Ft. Worth, TX
Quamon Fowler is a native of Fort Worth, Texas. He started his musical journey on the tenor saxophone at the age of twelve and has been composing music since he was fifteen. While attending O.D. Wyatt High School, he placed first in the NAACP ACT-SO competition in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1996 and Atlanta, Georgia in 1998. He also earned first chair tenor saxophone in the All-State Jazz Ensemble in 1998. After graduating from Wyatt, Quamon attended Weatherford College where he was under the direction of jazz guitarist Tom Burchill.
A year later, Quamon felt he needed to deepen his music studies and decided to attend Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There, he studied with world-renowned clarinetist Alvin Batiste. By the end of July 2000, Quamon released his first independent CD project entitled Introducing Quamon Fowler, where he combined straight-ahead jazz and soul in order to create a unique sound.
In the spring of 2001, Quamon was selected by Very Special Arts as a Panasonic Young Soloist. This award allowed him to perform for the first time at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. In the spring of 2002, Quamon was selected to be a part of the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program, which also took place at the Kennedy Center. In October of the same year, his composition, "The Reinforcement," was reviewed and selected as one of the top three compositions by Billy Harper, Maria Schneider and Cecil Bridgewater in the first annual ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer's Awards competition. As a recipient of the ASCAP Award, he was able to perform at the ASCAP headquarters in New York as a part of the annual Jazz Wall of Fame induction ceremony. In spring of 2003, Quamon was selected to participate in the Jazz and the New Generation program, hosted by Dr. Billy Taylor. This allowed him yet another opportunity to perform at the Kennedy Center. In the summer of the same year, Quamon was selected to participate in the Ravinia Steans Jazz Institute in Illinois and performed at the Ravinia Jazz Festival directed by David Baker. In December of 2003, Quamon had the honor of performing with Nathan Davis, Curtis Fuller, George Cables, and Jimmy Woody as a part of the Paris Reunion Band in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
As a believer in Jesus Christ, Quamon's relationship with God is expressed in his music. Through being raised in church, Quamon has learned how to be passionate, patient, aggressive, and intense in both his life and music. He knows that God has chosen him to be His instrument.
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