Rashied Ali
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Rashied Ali
- Genres: Jazz
Biography
The task of following Elvin Jones as drummer with John Coltrane must have been one of the most daunting situations ever entered into by a jazz musician. In the mid-'60s, most jazz listeners would have assumed that Jones was the only drummer alive who possessed the requisite imagination, intensity, and powerful sense of swing necessary to drive Coltrane's passions. As it turned out, even Jones had limitations, and since Coltrane was all about transcending limitations, it seems proper that he would complement Jones' polymetric intractability with the addition of Rashied Ali's skittish, asymmetrical flexibility. The two drummers shared the bandstand briefly, before Jones, reportedly disgusted, left the band. It's not difficult to understand why the pairing proved ill-fated. Jones was an innovator, but he was bound to tradition -- specifically, the tradition of ground-beat swing. He was the last stage in the evolution of the drummer-as-timekeeper; he reiterated swing's primal importance, even as he extended the drummer's role in terms of interaction with the ensemble. For his part, Ali almost completely abandoned a steady pulse, adopting instead a rhythmically irregular, textural, hyperactive approach that propelled the music in a manner at odds with Jones' more literal style. The addition of Ali and the departure of Jones marked Coltrane's last and most extreme step away from the jazz tradition. The removal of a steady beat, and the multitude of implied meters set by Ali and bassist Jimmy Garrison freed Coltrane to an unprecedented extent. Indeed, it was with the addition of Ali to his group that Coltrane's free jazz period truly began.Ali studied at Philadelphia's Granoff School of Music. He gained early experience with local jazz and R&B bands around Philadelphia. In 1963, he toured Japan with Sonny Rollins before moving to New York, where he became involved in the free jazz scene there. Associations with Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, Bill Dixon, and Sunny Murray preceded his tenure with Coltrane, which began in 1965 and lasted until the latter's death in 1967. For a time, Ali continued playing with pianist Alice Coltrane before going off on his own as a bandleader and musical organizer. In 1972, he helped coordinate the New York Musicians Festival. The next year, he formed his own record label, Survival, and opened his own performance venue, Ali's Alley, a New York City loft space that presented free jazz performances until the summer of 1979. In the '80s and '90s, his presence on the scene was sporadic; he performed on occasion with saxophonist Makanda Ken McIntyre, and recorded with multi-instrumentalist Zusaan Kali Fasteau and tenor saxophonist David Murray. In 1987 he recorded as a member of the group Phalanx, with guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer, tenor saxophonist George Adams, and bassist Sirone. In 1991, he made the critically acclaimed album Touchin' on Trane with bassist William Parker and tenor saxophonist Charles Gayle. The '90s found Ali at the helm of the band Prima Materia (initially co-led with Parker), an ensemble dedicated to interpreting the late works of Coltrane and Albert Ayler. ~ Chris Kelsey, Rovi
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Rashied Ali
| Rashied Ali | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Robert Patterson |
| Born | July 1, 1933 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | August 12, 2009 (aged 76) New York City, New York United States |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupations | Musician |
| Instruments | Drums |
| Years active | 1963–2009 |
| Labels | Tzadik |
| Associated acts | John Coltrane, Phalanx |
| Website | www.rashiedali.org |
Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009[1]) was an American free jazz and avant-garde jazz drummer best known for playing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.
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Contents
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Biography
Early life
Patterson was born and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; his family was musical: his mother had sung with Jimmie Lunceford.[2] His brother, Muhammad Ali, is also a drummer, who played with Albert Ayler, among others. Ali, along with his father and brother, converted to Islam.[3]
Starting off as a pianist he eventually took up the drums, via trumpet and trombone.[4] He joined the United States Army, and played with military bands during the Korean War.[4] After his military service he returned home and studied with Philly Joe Jones.[4]
Career
Ali moved to New York in 1963 and worked in groups with Bill Dixon and Paul Bley.[5] In addition, Ali was scheduled to be the second drummer, alongside Elvin Jones, on John Coltrane's landmark free jazz album Ascension, but he dropped out just before the recording was to take place.[4] Coltrane did not replace him, and settled for one drummer. Ali began to record with Coltrane from Meditations in November 1965 onwards.
Among his credits are the last recorded work of John Coltrane's life (The Olatunji Concert) and Interstellar Space, an album of duets with Coltrane recorded earlier in 1967. Ali "became important in stimulating the most avant-garde kinds of jazz activities".[6] Following Coltrane's death Ali played with his widow, Alice,[4] and during the early 1970s, he ran an influential loft club in New York, called Ali's Alley.[7] Ali also briefly formed a non-jazz project called Purple Trap with Japanese experimental guitarist Keiji Haino and jazz-fusion bassist Bill Laswell. Their double-CD album, Decided...Already the Motionless Heart of Tranquility, Tangling the Prayer Called "I", was released on John Zorn's Tzadik Records label in March 1999.
In the 1980s, he was member of Phalanx, a group with guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer, tenor saxophonist George Adams, and bassist Sirone. From 1997 - 2003 he played extensively with Tisziji Munoz, in a group that usually also included Pharoah Sanders.
Though most known for his work in the jazz idiom, Rashied Ali also made his contributions to other experimental art forms including multi-media performances with The Gift of Eagle Orchestra and Cosmic Legends. Performances such as Devachan and the Monads, Dwarf of Oblivion, which took place at the Kitchen Center for Performance Art, and a special tribute to John Cage in Central Park, have taken performance art to new levels with the addition of fully improvised large scale performance pieces. Other artists of the orchestra and Cosmic Legends have included Hayes Greenfield (sax), Perry Robinson (clarinet), Wayne Lopes (guitar), Dave Douglas (trumpet), Gloria Tropp (vocals), director/pianist Sylvie Degiez along with poets and actors Ira Cohen, Taylor Mead and Judith Malina (Living Theater).
Later life
In the last years of his life, Rashied Ali led his own eponymous quintet. A double CD entitled Judgment Day was recorded in February 2005 and features Jumaane Smith on trumpet, Lawrence Clark on tenor sax, Greg Murphy on piano and Joris Teepe on bass. This album was recorded at Ali's own Survival Studio, which has been in existence since the 1970s. In addition to his performance activities Ali served as mentor to numerous young drummers including Matt Smith. During the later
In 2007, Ali recorded "Going to the Ritual" in duo with bassist/violinist Henry Grimes (Porter Records PRCD-4005), with a second duo recording in post-production at the time of Ali's death. Ali and Grimes also played five duo concerts together between 2007 and 2009, and a sixth concert in June 2007 with pianist Marilyn Crispell. Ali is the featured drummer on Azar Lawrence's album Mystic Journey, recorded in April 2009 and released in May 2010.
Rashied Ali died at age 76 in a Manhattan hospital after suffering a heart attack.[8][9] He is survived by wife Patricia and three children.
Discography
As leader
- 1971 - New Directions In Modern Music (Survival Records, reissued by Knit Classics) with Carlos Ward, Fred Simmons, Stafford James
- 1972 - Duo Exchange (Survival Records, reissued by Knit Classics) with Frank Lowe
- 1973 - Swift Are The Winds Of Life (Survival Records, reissued by Knit Classics) with Leroy Jenkins
- 1973 - Rashied Ali Quintet (Survival Records, reissued by Knit Classics) with James "Blood" Ulmer
- 1974 - Moon Flight (Knitting Factory)
- 1975 - N.Y. Ain't So Bad (Survival Records, reissued by Knit Classics)
- 1989 - Rashied Ali in France (Blue Music Group)
- 1994 - Peace On Earth: The Music of John Coltrane (Knitting Factory Works) with Prima Materia and guests John Zorn, Allan Chase
- 1995 - Meditations (Knitting Factory Works) with Prima Materia, including Greg Murphy
- 1995 - Bells (Knitting Factory Works) with Prima Materia
- 1999 - Rings of Saturn (Knitting Factory Works), duets with tenor saxophonist Louie Belogenis
- 2000 - Live At Tonic (DIW) with Wilber Morris
- 2008 - Going to the Ritual (Porter Records) with bassist Henry Grimes
- 2009 - at the Vision Festival with Greg Tardy, James Hurt, Omer Avital. (Blue Music Group)
- 2009 - Eddie Jefferson at Ali's Alley with Eddie Jefferson (Blue Music Group)
- 2009 - Configurations, the Music of John Coltrane with Prima Materia (Blue Music Group)
- 2009 - Cutt'n Korners with Greg Tardy, Antoine Drye and Abraham Burton. (Blue Music Group)
- 2010 - Spirits Aloft (Porter Records) with bassist Henry Grimes
As sideman
With Peter Brötzmann
- Songlines (1991)
With Marion Brown
- Marion Brown Quartet (1966)
- Why Not? (1967)
With John Coltrane
- Meditations (1965)
- Live in Japan (1965) (1966)
- Live at the Village Vanguard Again! (1966)
- Interstellar Space (1967)
- Stellar Regions (1967)
- Expression (1967)
- The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording (1967)
- Cosmic Music (1968)
With Charles Gayle
- Touchin' on Trane (1991)
With Tisziji Munoz
- The River of Blood (1997)
- Present Without A Trace
- Spirit World
- Presence Of Truth
- Presence Of Joy
- Presence Of Mastery
- Breaking the Wheel of Life and Death
- Parallel Reality
- Hu-Man Spirit
- Shaman-Bala
- Divine Radiance
With David Murray
- Body and Soul (1993)
With Phalanx
- Original Phalanx (1987)
- In Touch (1988)
With Alice Coltrane
- A Monastic Trio (1968)
With Alan Shorter
- Orgasm (1968)
References
- ^ William Grimes "Rashied Ali, Jazz Drummer, Dies", New York Times, 13 August 2009
- ^ Wilmer, Valerie (1977). As Serious As Your Life: The Story of the New Jazz. Quartet. p. 259. ISBN 0-85031-224-8.
- ^ "Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians". Jazz.com. http://jazz.com/encyclopedia/2009/8/14/ali-rashied-patterson-jr-robert. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
- ^ a b c d e Grimes, William (August 14, 2009). "Rashied Ali, Free-Jazz Drummer, Dies at 76". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/arts/music/14ali.html?scp=2&sq=rashied%20ali&st=cse. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
- ^ Wilmer, Valerie (1977). As Serious As Your Life: The Story of the New Jazz. Quartet. p. 171. ISBN 0-85031-224-8.
- ^ Litweiler, John (1984). The Freedom Principle: Jazz After 1958. Da Capo. p. 104. ISBN 0-306-80377-1.
- ^ Hazell, Ed (2003). Episodes. Boston: Ayler Records
- ^ "R.I.P. Rashied Ali (1935–2009)". Inlog.org. 2009-08-13. http://inlog.org/2009/08/13/r-i-p-rashied-ali-1935-2009/. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
- ^ "Le batteur de jazz Rashied Ali est mort". fr: Citizenjazz.com. http://www.citizenjazz.com/article3462906.html. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
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Mentioned in
Moon Flight
(2000 Album by Rashied Ali)
Interstellar Space
(1967 Album by John Coltrane)
Duo Exchange
(1973 Album by Rashied Ali)
Marion Brown Quartet
(1965 Album by Marion Brown)
Live at the Village Vanguard Again!
(1966 Album by John Coltrane)
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