Barry Altschul (born January 6, 1943, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is a

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

and hard bop drummer who first came to notice in the late 1960s for performing with pianists

Paul Bley Paul Bley, Order of Canada, CM (November 10, 1932 – January 3, 2016) was a Canadian jazz pianist known for his contributions to the free jazz movement of the 1960s as well as his innovations and influence on trio playing and his early live per ...

and

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

Biography

Altschul is of Russian Jewish heritage, the son of a laborer who did construction work and drove a taxi. Having initially taught himself to play drums, Altschul studied with Charlie Persip during the 1960s. In the latter part of the decade, he performed with

. In 1969 he joined with

, Dave Holland and

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chi ...

to form the group

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all point (geometry), points in a plane (mathematics), plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the Centre (geometry), centre. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is cal ...

. At the time, he made use of a high-pitched Gretsch kit with add-on drums and percussion instruments. In the 1970s, Altschul worked extensively with Anthony Braxton's quartet featuring

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

, Dave Holland, and George E. Lewis. Braxton, signed to

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

, was able to secure a large enough budget to tour with a collection of dozens of percussion instruments, strings and winds. In addition to his participation in ensembles featuring avant-garde musicians, Altschul performed with Lee Konitz,

Art Pepper Arthur Edward Pepper Jr. (September 1, 1925 – June 15, 1982) was an American jazz musician, most known as an alto saxophonist. He occasionally performed and recorded on tenor saxophone, clarinet (his first instrument) and bass clarinet. Active ...

and other "straight ahead" jazz performers. Altschul also made albums as a leader, but after the mid-1980s he was rarely seen in concert or on record, spending much of his time in Europe. Since the 2000s, he has become more visible, with five co-leader appearances with the FAB trio (with Billy Bang and Joe Fonda), the Jon Irabagon Trio recording ''Foxy'' and the bassist Adam Lane. Altschul has played or recorded with many musicians, including Roswell Rudd, Dave Liebman,

Barre Phillips Barre Phillips (October 27, 1934 – December 28, 2024) was an American jazz double bass, bassist. A professional musician since 1960, he moved to New York City in 1962, then to Europe in 1967. From 1972 he was based in southern France, where in ...

, Denis Levaillant, Andrew Hill, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, and Lee Konitz. In 2012, Altschul began performing and recording with his new trio, the 3dom Factor, featuring saxophonist Jon Irabagon and double bassist Joe Fonda. 2019 saw the first release by the OGJB Quartet, a collective group featuring saxophonist Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, Joe Fonda, and Altschul.

Discography

As leader

* 1977: '' You Can't Name Your Own Tune'' ( 32 Jazz) * 1978: '' Another Time/Another Place'' (

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

) * 1979: '' For Stu'' ( Soul Note, 1981) * 1979: '' Somewhere Else'' ( Moers Music) * 1980: ''

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

'' ( Sackville) * 1983: '' Irina'' (Soul Note) * 1986: '' That's Nice'' (Soul Note) With the 3dom Factor (Altschul, Jon Irabagon, and Joe Fonda) * 2013: '' The 3dom Factor'' (TUM) * 2015: '' Tales of the Unforeseen'' (TUM) * 2017: '' Live in Kraków'' (Not Two) * 2021: '' Long Tall Sunshine'' (Not Two) Source:

As co-leader

* 1967: '' Virtuosi'' ( Improvising Artists, 1976) with

and Gary Peacock * 1978: '' Stop Time'' ( NoBusiness, 2023) with David Izenzon and Perry Robinson * 1979: '' Be-Bop?'' ( Musica) with Pepper Adams * 2014: ''BBK'' (Exit) with Barry Wedgle and Kim Stone With the FAB Trio ( Joe Fonda, Altschul, Billy Bang) * '' Transforming the Space'' (CIMP, 2003) * ''Live at Iron Works'' (Konnex, 2005) * ''A Night in Paris'' (Marge, 2008) * ''Live in Amsterdam'' (Porter, 2009) * '' History of Jazz in Reverse'' (TUM, 2011) Source: With the OGJB Quartet ( Oliver Lake, Graham Haynes, Joe Fonda, Altschul) * ''

Bamako Bamako is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country. Bamak ...

'' (TUM, 2019) * '' Ode to O'' (TUM, 2022) Source:

As sideman

With

* '' Touching'' ( Debut, 1965) * '' Closer'' ( ESP-Disk, 1966) * '' Ramblin''' ( BYG Actuel, 1967) * ''Blood'' (Fontana, 1966) * ''In Haarlem - Blood'' (Freedom, 1967) * '' Ballads'' (ECM, 1967 971 * '' Paul Bley & Scorpio'' (Milestone, 1973) * '' Japan Suite'' (Improvising Artists, 1977) * '' Hot'' (Soul Note, 1985) * '' Live at Sweet Basil'' (Soul Note, 1988) * ''Indian Summer'' (SteepleChase, 1987) * ''Rejoicing'' (SteepleChase, 1989) With

* '' The Complete Braxton'' (

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

, 1971 973 * '' News from the 70s'' (Musica Jazz/Felmay, 1971–1976 998 * '' Town Hall 1972'' (Trio, 1972) * '' Quartet: Live at Moers Festival'' (Ring, 1974 976 * '' Five Pieces 1975'' ( Arista, 1975) * '' Creative Orchestra Music 1976'' (Arista, 1976) * '' Dortmund (Quartet) 1976'' (hatART, 1976

991 Year 991 (Roman numerals, CMXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events * March 1: In Rouen, Pope John XV ratifies the first Peace and Truce of God, Truce of God, between Æthelred the Unready and Richard I o ...

* '' The Montreux/Berlin Concerts'' (Arista, 1975–76) With

* '' The Song of Singing'' (1971) * '' Circling In'' (1975) * '' ARC'' ( ECM, 1971) * '' Circulus'' (1970) * '' Circle 1: Live in Germany Concert'' (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971) * '' Paris Concert'' (ECM, 1971) * '' Circle 2: Gathering'' (CBS/Sony Japan, 1971) * ''The Beginning'' (1996) With Annette Peacock * 1972 '' I'm the One'' * 2014 ''I Belong to a World That's Destroying Itself'' ka ''Revenge'' With Sam Rivers * 1973 '' Hues'' ( Impulse!) * 1975 '' Sizzle'' (Impulse!) * 1976 '' The Quest'' (Red) * 1977 '' Paragon'' (

Fluid In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that may continuously motion, move and Deformation (physics), deform (''flow'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are M ...

) * 1977 ''

Zenith The zenith (, ) is the imaginary point on the celestial sphere directly "above" a particular location. "Above" means in the vertical direction (Vertical and horizontal, plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The z ...

'' (NoBusiness, 2019) * 1978 '' Ricochet'' (NoBusiness, 2020) * 2007 '' Reunion: Live in New York'' ( Pi, 2012) With Roswell Rudd * 1974 '' Flexible Flyer'' (Freedom) * 2009 '' Trombone Tribe'' (Sunnyside) With Ullmann/ Swell 4 * 2004 ''Desert Songs and Other Landscapes'' (CIMP) * 2010 ''News? No News!'' (Jazzwerskstatt) * 2010 ''Live in Montreal'' (CIMP) * 2022 ''We're Playing in Here?'' (NoBusiness) With others * 1972 '' Hold That Plane!'', Buddy Guy * 1972 ''Play the Blues'', Buddy Guy/ Junior Wells * 1973 '' Conference of the Birds'', Dave Holland (ECM) * 1973 ''

Icarus In Greek mythology, Icarus (; , ) was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus, the architect of the labyrinth of Crete. After Theseus, king of Athens and enemy of King Minos, escaped from the labyrinth, Minos suspected that Icarus and Daedalu ...

'',

Paul Winter Paul Winter (born August 31, 1939) is an American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. He is a pioneer of world music and earth music, which interweaves the voices of the wild with instrumental voices from classical, jazz and world music. The ...

* 1974 '' Drum Ode'', Dave Liebman * 1975 '' Coon Bid'ness'', Julius Hemphill, reissued in 1995 as ''Reflections'' * 1975 ''

Spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

'', Andrew Hill * 1982 '' Give and Take'', John Lindberg ( Black Saint) * 1983 '' And Far Away''

Kenny Drew Kenneth Sidney "Kenny" Drew (August 28, 1928 – August 4, 1993) was an American-Danish jazz pianist. Biography Drew was born on August 28, 1928, in New York City, United States, and he received piano lessons from the age of five. Feather, ...

(Soul Note) * 1983 ''Lido'', Claudio Fasoli * 1983 ''My One and Only Love'', Franco D'Andrea * 1983 ''No Idea of Time'', Franco D'Andrea * 1983 ''Sounds of Love'', Tiziana Ghiglioni * 1986 ''Passages'', Denis Levaillant (DLM, 1986/2012) * 1990 ''Brundl's Basslab'', Manfred Brundl * 1991 ''For All the Marbles Suite'', Simon Nabatov * 1992 ''Giacobazzi: Autour de la Rade'', André Jaume * 1995 ''Live'', Brundl's Basslab * 1997 ''Kinshasa-Washington D.C.-Paris'', Ray Lema * 1999 ''Clarinet Sessions'', André Jaume * 2000 ''Another Side'', Ken Simon * 2001 '' Skillfullness'', Alan Silva * 2002 ''Four Beings'', Adam Lane * 2005 ''Flat Fleet'',

Enrico Rava Enrico Rava (born 20 August 1939), is an Italian jazz trumpeter. He started on trombone, then changed to the trumpet after hearing Miles Davis. Career He was born in Trieste, Italy. His first commercial work was as a member of Gato Barbieri's ...

* 2020 ''An Evening in Houston'', Patty Waters Source:

References

External links

* Allmusic.com biography {{DEFAULTSORT:Altschul, Barry 1943 births Living people American jazz drummers Drummers from New York City Muse Records artists 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Circle (American band) members Jazz musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians 21st-century American drummers Sackville Records artists Improvising Artists Records artists 21st-century American male musicians American people of Russian-Jewish descent Jewish jazz musicians