Alfred Dreares II (January 4, 1927 – November 17, 2011) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

drummer.

Early life

Dreares was born in

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

, on January 4, 1927. He was a childhood friend of

Fats Navarro Theodore "Fats" Navarro (September 24, 1923 – July 7, 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player and a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. A native of Key West, Florida, he toured with big bands before achieving fa ...

, and studied at Hartnett Conservatory in New York City on the advice of his father, a trumpeter.

Later life and career

He played early in his career in the bands of

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

, and with

Teddy Charles Teddy Charles, born Theodore Charles Cohen (April 13, 1928 – April 16, 2012) was an American jazz musician and composer, whose instruments were the vibraphone, piano, and drums. Career Born Theodore Charles Cohen in Chicopee Falls, Mas ...

in 1955. The next year he played with

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz Double bass, upright bassist, composer, bandleader, pianist, and author. A major proponent of collective Musical improvisation, improvisation, he is considered one of ...

. In 1957 he recorded with

Freddie Redd Freddie Redd (May 29, 1928 – March 17, 2021) was an American hard-bop pianist and composer. He is best known for writing music to accompany '' The Connection'' (1959), a play by Jack Gelber. According to Peter Watrous, writing in ''The New Y ...

and worked with

Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31, 1931) is an American jazz guitarist known for his work on numerous top jazz labels: Prestige Records, Prestige, Blue Note, Verve Records, Verve, CTI Records, CTI, Muse Records, Muse, and Concord Records, Conco ...

; 1958 saw him with

Gigi Gryce Gigi Gryce (born George General Grice Jr.; November 28, 1925 – March 17, 1983), later in life changing his name to Basheer Qusim, was an American jazz saxophonist, flautist, clarinetist, composer, arranger, and educator. While his performing ...

, and 1959 with Phineas Newborn. He also led his own bands from the late 1950s. Other credits include recordings with

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

and Julian Euell, and

Bennie Green Bennie Green (April 16, 1923 – March 23, 1977) was an American jazz trombonist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Green worked in the orchestras of Earl Hines and Charlie Ventura, and recorded as bandleader through the 1950s and ...

Discography

As sideman

With

*'' Walkin' & Talkin''' (Blue Note, 1959) *''

'' (Time, 1960) With

Freddie McCoy Freddie McCoy (November 29, 1932 – September 27, 2009) was an American soul jazz vibraphonist. McCoy started out with Johnny "Hammond" Smith in 1961, and released seven albums for Prestige Records plus one in 1971 for the short-lived Cobblestone R ...

*'' Listen Here'' (Prestige, 1968) With

*'' San Francisco Suite'' (Riverside, 1957) With

Frank Strozier Frank R. Strozier Jr. (born June 13, 1937) is a jazz alto saxophonist and occasional flutist. Strozier was born in Memphis, Tennessee, where he learned to play piano. In 1954, he moved to Chicago, where he performed with Harold Mabern, George Co ...

*''

March of the Siamese Children ''March of the Siamese Children'' is an album by jazz musician Frank Strozier, recorded in 1962 for Jazzland. Track listing #"March of the Siamese Children" ( Rodgers, Hammerstein II)5:10 #"Extension 27" (Strozier)4:57 #"Something I Dreame ...

'' (Jazzland, 1962) With

*''

Left Alone Left Alone is a punk rock band from Wilmington, California. They were formed in May 1996 by lead vocalist and guitarist Elvis Cortez. Cortez formed his own label, Smelvis Records, to release Left Alone's records, and has since expanded the la ...

'' (Bethlehem, 1959) *''Les Nuits de la Negritude'' (Powertree, 1964) *'' Sweet Love, Bitter'' (Impulse!, 1967) With

Randy Weston Randolph Edward "Randy" Weston (April 6, 1926 – September 1, 2018) was an American jazz pianist and composer whose creativity was inspired by his ancestral African connection. Weston's piano style owed much to Duke Ellington and Thelonious M ...

*''

Jazz à la Bohemia ''Jazz à la Bohemia'' (also released as ''Greenwich Village Jazz'') is a live album by American jazz pianist Randy Weston recorded on October 14, 1956 at the Café Bohemia in Greenwich Village and released on Riverside later that year.

'' (Riverside, 1956) Main sources:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreares, Al American jazz drummers Drummers from Florida 2011 deaths 1927 births 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians