James Howard Band

Jack Dolan- Bass

Originally from San Antonio, TX, Jack Dolan started playing guitar after a football injury wrecked his sports ambitions at age 15. Before long he was recruited into a band, but they needed a bass player, not a guitar player. So Jack rose to the occasion, and switched to bass for this new band who called themselves “The American Revolution”. The band did some gigs playing teen dances but broke up after about 6 months. He planned to go back to playing guitar, but a week a later he was recruited into another band called “Scot Free” who, like The American Revolution, needed a bass player. He never intended to be a bass player but he kept getting recruited to play bass in bands, and he never went back to guitar. Eventually Jack settled in Tacoma WA where he currently lives with his wife of 47 years, Debbie. Jack is a solid old school pocket bass player with a great feel and groove. He loves the Stax and Muscle Shoals artists, like Sam and Dave, Wilson Pickett and Aretha Franklin, and the Blues.

Kevin Cook- Drums

Kevin Cook hails from Warren Ohio. He moved to Seattle WA in 1991, excited to be a part of the burgeoning music scene that had exploded there. Kevin enrolled at the University of WA and got his BA in music and a BA in jazz studies performance in 1998. Ever since then, he has been working as a pro-sideman drummer doing live gigs, studio work and dance class accompaniment. Kevin is a passionate lifelong student of drum rhythms and loves to dig deep into the history and variations of whatever rhythm a particular song has. For instance, when confronted with playing the New Orleans 2nd line rhythm of the James Howard original Rhythm and Blues, Kevin scoured the internet to find the most authentic representations of that rhythm. He is a good fit for Howard in that, like Howard, he combines playing composed parts with an improvisational jam band or jazz approach, bringing something different to the songs every time he plays them. Kevin gives back to the community by teaching what he has learned, always maintaining a handful of students to keep his teaching chops fresh.