Osama Raad - Houston based jazz and blues drummer. Booking: 713-805-3684 - Email Osama Raad

Osama Raad came to Houston in 1980 from Lebanon to study pharmacy, and his passion for drums and percussion has taken off over the years.

He started out playing R&B, blues, and Middle Eastern music, and played percussion and drums in highschool in Lebanon and it progressed from there. In Houston he would go and listen to blues all he could, and then began playing the blues frequently.

Osama had the honor of playing with Johnny Johnson twice - the father of rock 'n roll (who taught Chuck Berry) and he played a couple of concerts with Gatemouth Brown, and has also played with Houston's Milton Hopkins, Sonny Boy Terry, Pearl Murray, and Sweet Mama Cotton.

Blues and Jazz were connected in a way and Raad always wanted to play jazz but didn't know where to start. He took some lessons with Tim Solook, and Keith Karnaky, and the rest (as they say) is history. Then began playing with Joey Bowers, a great guitarist who passed away in 2003. "I learned so much from him... he was a great mentor to me," recalls Raad.

GOALS - "making myself a better drummer, and spreading jazz around Houston as much as I can."

DRUMMING INFLUENCES - "Tony Williams, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, Art Taylor, Brian Blade, Art Blakey especially for blues stuff (shuffles)"

GEAR - "I like to use Old K Cymbals from Istanbul, Roberto Spizzichino cymbals, Bosphorus cymbals, Istanbul Cymbals - has to be hand made #1, and has to be very, very light for jazz use. Cymbals are extremely important to me, probably moreso than drums. My drums are all hand made in Houston at The Percussion Center (HPC Customs)."