“Stubborn” is drummer Mike Warren's response to a question about his main drumming characteristics.

“I really want to sound like nobody else”, Mike shared in a recent conversation. “I learned the language by listening to other drummers on recordings, but I intentionally did not know who the drummers were.” By not concentrating on the styles of specific drummers, he was able to “learn the language without painting myself into any corners, stylistically.”

This quality is evident in Warren's music; there are no obvious direct influences. When mentioning this to Mike, he says “that is the greatest compliment you can give me.”

Mike does backtrack when he talks about his shuffle. “That's Art Blakey, he was the master of shuffle rhythm. The shuffle is an important rhythm in Kansas City . I think my shuffle is what Bobby Watson heard, and why he gravitated towards using me on his gigs.”

Working with Bobby also includes some teaching at UMKC the past two years, but this is the majority of the teaching that Mike does. “I don't do many private lessons, an occasional college student, that's it.”

But he does believe in giving back, and his work at the Mutual Musicians Foundation allows him to do that. “I am with Tyrone Clark's trio on Saturdays (technically Sunday mornings) at the Foundation, with Chris Clarke on piano. It's a controlled jam session, we have returned to what it used to be there, when you had to be ready to play on the jam. It's not an open mike. I've given up a lot to get where I am, and want players there who take it seriously. It gives me a chance to mentor. We are starting to see more serious players drop in to play now, including those from out of town who are in Kansas City for gigs.”

Tyrone Clark, Mike Warren and Chris Clarke

Make no mistake, Mike is serious about music. “I play 23 hours a day in my mind. Music is in my brain all the time. My dreams have musical scores!”

Serious is also the approach being taken in his new recording project with the Jazz Disciples, Mike's main outlet. A follow-up to the successful Out of the Comfort Zone release from a couple of years ago, Mike says “the material is ready. We want to show how much the band has grown. We are being very careful with arrangements and all.”

Recently Mike made a noticeable change to the positioning of his drums on the bandstand at the Jazz Disciples gigs. Rather that being back in the corner of the bandstand at the Blue Room, facing the audience, he is now positioned by the side partition facing the band, sideways to the audience. “There are a couple of reasons for the position change. Acoustically, when I'm back in the corner it sounds louder, with two surfaces reflecting the sound. I wanted to get away from that, which allows me to hear the band better. The line of sight to the whole band is also much better. Most soloists usually can't see the drummer because he is in the back. Being on the side allows better communication with the band.”

He met fellow Disciples Gerald Dunn and Everett Freeman when he was a student at KU, while attending a clinic at UMKC. “It continued from there. We just liked to play with other from the start.”

The Jazz Disciples are a strong ensemble that reflects the strengths of the individual members; it is hard to imagine the group without the contributions from each. “Our main strength is the ensemble, what we sound like playing together. We write and compose for each other with that sound in mind.”

“I always try to play like it's the last time I'm going to play. When I play, I first try to please myself, then the goal is to please the band.”

When Mike started at KU, the concentration was biology, not music, and then heading towards medical school. In fact, he was heading towards residency when he decided that a medical career was not his calling. Folks were always after him to play, and had been pulling him towards music since high school and again at KCKCC. “It seemed that there would be no life outside of medicine. I had no desire for that.”

He has no regrets. “I want to be known as a drummer, a musician.”

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