Jazz drummer Rashied Ali dies at 74
Rashied Ali, a jazz drummer most associated with John Coltrane’s duo album Interstellar Space, has died.
Ali, 74, died Wednesday of a blocked artery.
Ali took over for Elvin Jones as Coltrane’s drummer in 1965 and accompanied him as he developed a new style of free jazz almost completely divorced from traditional jazz. He abandoned the steady beat and adopted a rhythmically irregular style with changing meter that led to Coltrane’s most extreme free jazz.
Ali was born Robert Patterson in Philadelphia and studied at Philadelphia’s Granoff School of Music. He played in the Philadelphia area and toured with saxophonist Sonny Rollins before moving to the heart of the jazz scene, New York City, in 1963.
He was associated with Pharoah Sanders, Albert Ayler, Bill Dixon and Sunny Murray before he joined Coltrane.
After Coltrane’s death, Ali became a bandleader and helped co-ordinate the New York Musicians Festival in 1972. He formed his own record label, Survival, in the 1970s and opened his own club, Ali’s Alley, a New York City loft space that presented free jazz.
Ali continued as an influential member of the jazz scene throughout the 1980s and 1990s, performing with groups such as Phalanx, By Any Means and Prima Materia, a group that performed work by Coltrane and Ayler.
He also played drums for artists such as Makada Ken McIntyre, Archie Shepp, Gary Bartz, Dewey Redman and Carlos Santana, and recorded Touchin’ on Train with bassist William Parker and tenor saxophonist Charles Gayle.
In 2003, Ali formed The Rashied Ali Quintet, and released recordings such as 2006’s Judgment Day Vol. 1 and Judgment Day Vol. 2.
Ali performed as recently as last weekend at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Leave a Reply
