"Helly guys, I'm Andy. I heard Sly needs a drummer and I have to come to meet him". These were the words of Andy Newmark shortly before taking his incredible opportunity of auditioning for Sly Stone, knowing he had 20 seconds to make impression. Andy did make an impression when asked to play his funkiest beat and landed the gig with Sly & the Family Stone who had inherited the funk torch from James Brown and was in the process of revolutionizing popular dance music.
This day marked the beginning of Andy's prestigious career. Newmark went on to record the album Fresh with Stone which forever changed the landscape of popular music by fusing jazz, funk, and soul in a combination that had never been heard before, or maybe since. Jazz legend Miles Davis was so overwhelmed by one of the album's tracks that he called his band to a rehearsal and made them listen to it repeatedly for a half hour straight.
Andy Newmark has played drums on Flesh + Blood, Avalon, Boys And Girls, Bete Noire, Taxi, Mamouna, and As Time Goes By. Andy also played on Roxy Music's 1982 tour and Bryan Ferry's 1988 tour.
Further artists which Andy has performed with are Willie Weeks, David Sanborn, Will Lee, Hugh McCracken, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Luther Vandross, Carly Simon Neil Jason, Tony Levin, Ralph MacDonald, Earl Slick, Klaus Voormann, Jimmy Maelen, Don Grolnick, Ronnie Cuber, George Benson, Sly & the Family Stone McKendree Spring, Phillips-Macleod, Glamour Camp, Mark Farner Band, Tom Verlaine Band, Grand Funk, ABC, Alessi Brother, Andy Pratt, B.B. King, Bob James, Badfinger, Carole King, Cat Stevens, David Bowie, David Forman, Evie Sands, John Lennon, Jim Capaldi, Liona Boyd, Roy Harper, Steve Winwood, Yoko Ono.
Proudly, Andy has been a Yamaha drums artist since 1978.
