“I feel that music can open our awareness. That’s what I want the music to do. I think we all come from someplace powerful. We just need to find that place inside. My goal is to rest in that openness and let go. The more I practise this, the more my natural faith develops. The music finds its strength in that. That’s what I want to share.” fk

Drummer / composer Franklin Kiermyer pursues a singular quest. Rather than following the more usual course of apprenticeship as sideman or journeyman player, Kiermyer has developed by spending his time studying the spiritual music that moves him most and seeking out musicians to collaborate with. Over the years, he has developed a style of drumming that is identifiably individual while at the same time carrying forward ... well, let’s let the critics talk about that.

"I think most musicians come up playing more from a stylistic tradition, but I needed to find a way that would work for me. I was always more interested in how the music felt rather than its history. I looked for music that moved me the most and tried to understand how it worked. I knew that I’d have to find my own way of having that feeling when I play. Learning a musical language was a help to get that happening, but never an end in itself."

He began percussion studies at age 12. His professional career started at supper clubs and private parties with his high school music teacher. In his mid-teens, Franklin’s spiritual yearnings found more focus. “I had a simple understanding that all the world’s religions had freedom and peace as their goal. I also felt that this couldn’t be reached through concepts.” He began to meditate and study the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism.

Around the same time, he was introduced to the mid-60’s music of the John Coltrane Quartet with drummer Elvin Jones. This music had an immediate and lasting impact. Montreal of the 60’s and 70’s was an important part of the East-Coast Jazz scene. Elvin Jones would come through town with his own band a couple of times each year. Franklin would be there each night, awed. Growing up hearing and watching legends like Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus, Philly Joe Jones, Art Blakey, Duke Ellington and many others was an important part of his education.

After leaving music college at 18, Kiermyer started to take road trips with U.S. Rhythm & Blues bands. “It was good to be with good musicians and travelling, but I was very dissatisfied with my playing and the music.” At age 20, he moved back to Montreal to get deeper into a practise regime.

“There were some really dedicated young musicians on the scene. We’d share a lot of information and push each other. I think that most of the others wanted to develop as excellent jazz players, but I was hearing something different. I thought that if I could keep focussed on my path I could develop this thing that would be really strong and compelling. I’m sure some people thought I was odd in my convictions.”

By the age of 22, he was meeting and putting together projects with the best players he could. Sometimes encouraged, sometimes humbled, he kept on trying. As his vision grew, so did his reach. This became his method of moving ahead.

When a young player’s wings grew beyond local territory, New York was always the place to go. Kiermyer had been spending time there, visiting relatives, since he was a kid. In his early twenties, he started taking trips there to listen, meet people and sit-in where he could. At age 27, he began a residency that lasted nearly 20 years. It was there that he recorded 'Break Down The Walls', 'In The House Of My Fathers', 'Solomon’s Daughter', 'Kairos', 'Auspicious Blazing Sun', 'Sanctification' and 'Great Drum Of The Secret Mirror'.

Even though his first couple of albums were well received, it was Solomon’s Daughter, featuring Coltrane alumnus Pharoah Sanders on tenor saxophone, that signaled Kiermyer’s arrival. He was finally performing at leading venues and festivals as a leader.

“With Solomon’s Daughter, I felt I could finally do some of what I intended. It had taken me a long time to get to that stage, but it wasn’t long before I knew that it was just a beginning. The next few years were rewarding but I was often very frustrated, feeling held back. I realized I had to open my heart and mind more. I was very fortunate to meet a great Tibetan Buddhist teacher. In him, I saw the depth and openness I knew was at the source of great music. Following his instructions, I spent most of the next 6 years in Nepal and India and other places – very often in remote solitary retreats.”

Now living in Oslo, Norway with his wife and daughters, Kiermyer is much closer to fulfilling his musical vision. “Applying myself to the drums and writing, I feel I’ve overcome a lot of what was holding the music back. It feels like a big step forward for me and I’m grateful for that.”

Performing and recording with great musicians, developing new compositions and drumming, Franklin Kiermyer feels it’s the right time to do what he’s meant to do. “It feels like all the things I’ve worked on and learnt have led to this period where it all comes together.”