Skip Howlett R.I.P - ProfilesArchive

About Me

This is a tribute to the memory of a musical great who recently past.
"Skip" Stratton Elliott Howlett. We lost a friend, true soul drummer and Legend. He was a musician's musician. To think he accompanied and played along side of some of the very best in the salsa, latin jazz world. Such as Mongo Santamaria, Ford Apache Band, Herbie Hancock, Ray Barretto, Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, Xavier Cugat, Gato Barbieri, Cal Tjader, Tipica 73, Johnny Rodriguez Jr, Tito Gomez, Justo Betancourt, Alfredo De La Fe, Jorge Dalto, Dave Valentin, Fania All Stars and many more, Too many to list. Skip was suprisingly humble for having accomplished so much in his career. Skip was an inspiration to me and to many other musicians who had the opportunity and good fortune to meet and work with him. It was hard to see Skip go. I learned a great deal from him. And in parting I learned one final lesson in humility and bravery. I learned that in the face of adversity a man could smile with no fear and play music with a whole heart and a true spirit.
Ernesto Valenzuela

My Interests

I'd like to meet:

My friend Skip is now resting in Peace with God and if I know Skip, he is probably forming a All Star Band in Heaven as we read this.
The following is the eulogy that I wrote to be read at his service in the Bronx.
My friend Steve Haney read it. Thanks Steve.
In memory of my friend Skip
How do I begin to express what Skip was to me? I can say he was a very close friend and that he inspired me to do things, I thought I did not have the ability to do. He would often stay up with me at all hours of the night, listening to music and talking about music & we would talk about his career as a musician. I was always very respectful of Skip. Because he was a great musician and an even greater person. But, he was soft spoken.
Don't get me wrong when you where around him, you knew he was special. He had a presence that he had been there and done that a thousand times.
Of course he would not tell you that. He was always very humble, it is a quality I will use during my musical career and in life.
Skip ate music, drank music, slept to music and awoke to music. I guessyou can say he was music. And when this terrible illness got a hold of him, he didn't forget his music, as a matter of fact he did not even flinch. He attacked his illness head on, After several surgeries he continued to play & do gigs, even with his head wrapped in bandages and stitches still in place, he would still get up on that stage and perform. It brings me to another quality skip had. STUBBORN !! And that is an understatement. If you told him to rest, he would just stay up. If you told him to relax, he would just get wound up. If you told him to sit, he would just get up. Skip just marched to the beat of his own drum and you know what?
You have to admire that. I can tell you also that even though his life was being shortened he remained brave. He was determined to not give in easily, and to me that is his greatest achievement in my eyes. Refusing to give in even though death was staring at him right in the face. Accepting what was happening to him and trying as best as he could to live on.
My friend Skip is gone now. But, he will always live on through us. We will remember all those great performances, all those great times, all those great memories. He entertained thousands of lives. and I imagine touched as many also.
Skip is on his way to a better place, a place full of love, peace and calm.
I won't say goodbye today. I will simply wait till it is my turn to see him again.
God bless all of you
And thank you for allowing me this opportunity.
Ernie Becquer.........................

Celia Cruz "Pinar Del Rio" Cortijo y su Combo "Quitate de la via Perico" Cortijo y su Combo, "Maquinolandera" Cortijo y su Combo canta Ismael Rivera "El Negro Bembon" Hector Lavoe "Todo Tiene su Final" Hector Lavoe "Sigue Feliz"
Hector Lavoe "Ausencia"

Music:

Skip on Timbales with Mongo SantamariaSkip and Tito PuenteSkip and Poncho Sanchez with Cal Tjader