BIO
Early Years
Wes has demonstrated an interest in drums since the age of four and began his professional career after graduating with a B.S. in Psychology at Virginia Tech.
Wes has demonstrated an interest in drums since the age of four and began his professional career after graduating with a B.S. in Psychology at Virginia Tech.
After College
Wes began performing drumset with the extraordinary Jazz / R&B singer Jane L. Powell, a musical association that lasted eleven years and continues as a managerial relationship. The group toured throughout the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean performing at festivals, universities, resorts, nightclubs, and on cruise ships. They opened for acts such as Ray Charles, Melba Moore, Freddie Jackson, Lou Rawls, The Crusaders, Joan Jett, Ernie Watts, and Paula Poundstone, and occasionally performed alongside artists such as Tony Bennett, O.C. Smith, and Dorothy Moore, as well as being featured with various symphonies. The 1,300 colleges and universities comprising the National Assocation for Campus Activities voted the group Entertainer of the Year in 1990, their highest honor, and Jazz Artist of the Year for 1990-1992. During these years of touring, Wes also recorded two albums with Ms. Powell as well as several outside projects including his own "Rap-Along" album, a creativity and esteem building recording designed for teenagers. Wes also conducted electronic percussion seminars at VA Tech and at the Virginia Governor's School for the Gifted.
Maryland / D.C.
In 1992, Wes settled with his family in the Washington, D.C. area as an independent artist on drumset and percussion where he has performed and / or recorded with talented groups including:
- Enviro Drum - Maryland
- Bay Jazz Project
- Between Worlds - Gnaoua Music Fest 2011, Morocco
- Big Ray & the Kool Kats
- Cantare
- Catalyst Events
- Eva Cassidy
- Jeffrey Chappell
- Cocktail Nuts (aka "C-Nuts")
- Fresh Air (horn-driven variety band)
- Aisha Kahlil (of Sweet Honey in the Rock)
- Seth Kibel
- Anjelique Kidjo internationally known singer from Benin
- Sean Lane
- Bob Margolis
- Jack's Mission
- Justine Miller
- Nightlife
- Armand Ntep
- Oh Susannah!" Washington's favorite children's entertainer,
Susan McNelis l - Daryl Davis, Armadillo recording artist
- Mary Ann Redmond Band
- Mystic Warriors
- Shahin and Sepehr, Higher Octave / Virgin World Beat artists
- Arshak Sirunyan
- Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, mrudangam virtuoso, PASIC 2000 Clinic and featured at Baltimore Drum Day 2000
- Sound Connection (high energy show band)
- Squeeze Bayou
- - 1998 "Best Non-Louisiana-Based Cajun Band Recording"
award from the Cajun French Music Association
- - 1998 "Best Non-Louisiana-Based Cajun Band Recording"
- Sugar Jones
- Al Williams
- Zydeco Crayz
- The Guy Jenkins Band
His other noteworthy performances and recordings include those with the David Bach Consort (2nd place winner in the 1998 BET unsigned band video contest), Hennesy Jazz Search regional winner Jerry Gordon, African Continuum Theatre Company's "Hubert & Charlie,” and performances with Milestone recording artist Ron Holloway. Additionally, Wes has also recorded for The History Channel and for PBS.
An Educator
Wes considers education to be an important link to the future of the percussive arts and teaches drumset privately and at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD. He performed in countless school assemblies with Cindy Rosenberg's Mosaic, which provided the musical instruction and curriculum for the 2000 Maryland Artist/Teacher Institute. Wes was the director of the Drumset and Percussion Camp, a part of the annual Goucher Summer Arts Institute, from 2005-2013. His latest projects are the Head Scratcher Snare Drum as well as his interactive "A Rhythmic Murder Mystery" DVD, which he also performs live, and the "Wes Crawford's Drumset Play-Along DVD." Wes served as President of the MD/DE chapter of the Percussive Arts Society from 2011-2014 and as Vice-President from 2005-2011, and he worked as a musical consultant for Sustainable Environments for Health and Shelter (SEH+S) for two years. He currently leads his latest group, Enviro Drum - Maryland, a franchise of Jeff Salem's original Toronto show. Recently, Wes won the award for "Best Musical Production" for producing Oh Susannah's children's public access television show, "Imagine That," at the Monty Awards ceremony for Montgomery County, MD in November of 2013.
