Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson (July 1, 1933 – August 12, 2009), was an American

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

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

drummer who was best known for performing with

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

in the last years of Coltrane's life.

Biography

Early life

Patterson was born and raised in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania. His family was musical; his mother sang with

Jimmie Lunceford James Melvin Lunceford (June 6, 1902 – July 12, 1947) was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era. Early life Lunceford was born on a farm in the Evergreen community, west of the Tombigbee River, near Fulton, ...

. His brother,

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

, is also a drummer, who played with

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. After early experience playing rhythm and blues and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Ho ...

. Ali, his brother, and his father converted to Islam. Starting off as a pianist, he eventually took up the drums, via trumpet and trombone. He joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and played with military bands during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. After his military service, he returned home and studied with

Philly Joe Jones Joseph Rudolph "Philly Joe" Jones (July 15, 1923 – August 30, 1985) was an American Jazz drumming, jazz drummer. Biography Early career As a child, Jones appeared as a featured tap dancer on ''The Kiddie Show'' on the Philadelphia radio stat ...

, then toured with

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American retired jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, Rollins recorded over sixt ...

Career

Ali moved to New York in 1963 and worked in groups with

Bill Dixon William Robert Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American composer and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in free jazz and late twentieth-century contemporary music. He was also a prominent activist for artist's right ...

and

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 ...

. He was scheduled to be the second drummer alongside

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as ''My Fa ...

's free jazz album '' Ascension'', but he dropped out just before the recording was to take place. Coltrane did not replace him and settled for one drummer. Ali recorded with Coltrane beginning in 1965 on the album ''

Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161–180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Composition Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' i ...

''. Among his credits are the last recorded work by Coltrane ('' The Olatunji Concert'') and '' Interstellar Space'', an album of duets recorded earlier in 1967. Ali "became important in stimulating the most avant-garde kinds of jazz activities," playing what Coltrane described as "multi-directional rhythms". After Coltrane's death, Ali performed with his widow, pianist Alice Coltrane. During the early 1970s, he ran Ali's Alley, a loft club in New York City, and founded his own label,

Survival Records Survival Records is an independent record label that focuses on free jazz. It was founded in 1972 by American drummer Rashied Ali. History Ali co-founded Survival with saxophonist Frank Lowe in 1972, after experiencing frustration with being una ...

He was a visiting artist at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

, sponsored by

Clifford Thornton Clifford Edward Thornton III (September 6, 1936 – November 25, 1989) was an American jazz trumpeter, trombonist, political activist, and educator. He played free jazz and avant-garde jazz in the 1960s and '70s. Career Clifford was born in Phil ...

. Ali also briefly formed a non-jazz group called Purple Trap with Japanese experimental guitarist Keiji Haino and jazz-fusion bassist

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...

. Their album, ''Decided...Already the Motionless Heart of Tranquility, Tangling the Prayer Called "I"'', was released by Tzadik Records in March 1999. During the 1980s, he was member of

Phalanx The phalanx (: phalanxes or phalanges) was a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar polearms tightly packed together. The term is particularly used t ...

, a group with guitarist

James Blood Ulmer James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues music, blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been ...

, tenor saxophonist George Adams, and bassist Sirone. In 1985, Ali performed with the band There Goes the Neighborhood with

Jaco Pastorius John Francis Anthony Pastorius III, also known as Jaco Pastorius (; December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), was an American jazz bassist, composer, and producer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential bassists of all time, ...

Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane, and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist ...

, Doug McClean, Whitie Melvin, and Ben Prevo. From 1997 to 2003 he played extensively with Tisziji Munoz in a group that usually included

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

. Though known for his work in jazz, Ali contributed 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 tribute to

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

in New York's

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

. Other artists of the orchestra and Cosmic Legends have included Hayes Greenfield (sax), Perry Robinson (clarinet), Wayne Lopes (guitar), Dave Douglas (trumpeter), Gloria Tropp (vocals), Louise Landes Levi (sarangi), director/pianist Sylvie Degiez along with poets and actors

Ira Cohen Ira Cohen (February 3, 1935 – April 25, 2011) was an American poet, publisher, photographer and filmmaker. Cohen lived in Morocco and in New York City in the 1960s, he was in Kathmandu in the 1970s and traveled the world in the 1980s, before ...

Taylor Mead Taylor Mead (December 31, 1924 – May 8, 2013) was an American writer, actor and performer. Mead appeared in several of Andy Warhol's underground films filmed at Warhol's Factory, including ''Tarzan and Jane Regained... Sort of'' (1963) and '' T ...

, and

Judith Malina Judith Malina (June 4, 1926 – April 10, 2015) was a German-born American actress, director and writer. With her husband Julian Beck, Malina co-founded The Living Theatre, a radical political theatre troupe that rose to prominence in New York C ...

Later life

During the last years of his life, Ali led his own quintet. A double album entitled ''

Judgment Day The Last Judgment is a concept found across the Abrahamic religions and the '' Frashokereti'' of Zoroastrianism. Christianity considers the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to entail the final judgment by God of all people who have ever lived, res ...

'' was recorded in February 2005 and features Jumaane Smith on trumpet, Lawrence Clark on tenor saxophone, 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 young drummers such as Matt Smith. In 2007, Ali recorded '' Going to the Ritual'' in duo with bassist/violinist

Henry Grimes Henry Grimes (November 3, 1935 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist and violinist. After more than a decade of activity and performance, notably as a leading bassist in free jazz, Grimes completely disappeared from the music sc ...

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 Azar Lawrence (born November 3, 1952) is an American jazz saxophonist, known for his contributions as sideman to McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Woody Shaw. Career Lawrence released ''Summer Solstice'' on Prestige Records in 1975, ...

's album ''Mystic Journey'', recorded in April 2009 and released in May 2010.

Death

Rashied Ali died at the age of 76 in a

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

hospital after suffering a heart attack. He was survived by wife Patricia and three children.

Discography

As leader or co-leader

* 1973 – ''

Duo Exchange ''Duo Exchange'' is an album by drummer Rashied Ali and saxophonist Frank Lowe. It was probably recorded in September 1972 at the studio of Marzette Watts in New York City, and was issued by Ali's Survival Records in 1973 as the label's inaugural ...

'' (

Survival Survival or survivorship, the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things ...

, reissued by Knit Classics) with

Frank Lowe Frank Lowe (June 24, 1943 – September 19, 2003) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. Biography Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Lowe took up the tenor saxophone at the age of 12. As an adult he moved to San Francisco, where h ...

* 1973 – '' Rashied Ali Quintet'' (Survival, reissued by Knit Classics) with

* 1973 – '' New Directions in Modern Music'' (Survival, reissued by Knit Classics) with Carlos Ward, Fred Simmons, Stafford James * 1976 – '' Moon Flight'' (Survival, reissued by Knit Classics) * 1976 – '' N.Y. Ain't So Bad'' (Survival, reissued by Knit Classics) * 1976 – '' Swift Are the Winds of Life'' (Survival, reissued by Knit Classics) with Leroy Jenkins * 1989 – ''Rashied Ali in France'' (Blue Music Group) * 1994 – ''Island Universe'' (Soul Note) with Jeff Palmer, Arthur Blythe, and John Abercrombie * 1996 – '' The October Revolution'' (Evidence) with Joe McPhee, Borah Bergman, and

Wilber Morris Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 - August 8, 2002) was an American jazz double bass player and bandleader. He was the brother of the cornetist, composer, and conductor Butch Morris.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Wilber Morris recorded widely, and performed with su ...

* 1997 – ''Live'' (Zero In) with

Ivo Perelman Ivo Perelman (born January 12, 1961) is a Brazilian free jazz saxophonist born in São Paulo. Career In his youth, Perelman learned to play guitar, cello, clarinet, trombone, and piano, concentrating on tenor sax since age 19. He attended the Be ...

and William Parker * 1999 – ''

Rings of Saturn Saturn has the most extensive and complex ring system of any planet in the Solar System. The rings consist of particles in orbit around the planet made almost entirely of water ice, with a trace component of Rock (geology), rocky material. Parti ...

'' (Knitting Factory), duets with tenor saxophonist Louie Belogenis * 1999 – ''Decided... Already the Motionless Heart of Tranquility, Tangling the Prayer Called "I"'' (Tzadik) with Purple Trap (

, Keiji Haino, Ali) * 2001 – '' Live at Tonic'' ( DIW) with

Wilber Morris Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 - August 8, 2002) was an American jazz double bass player and bandleader. He was the brother of the cornetist, composer, and conductor Butch Morris.

Wilber Morris recorded widely, and performed with su ...

and Louie Belogenis * 2001 – '' Deals, Ideas & Ideals'' (Hopscotch) with

Peter Kowald Peter Kowald (21 April 1944 – 21 September 2002) was a German free jazz and free improvising double bassist and tubist. Career A member of the Globe Unity Orchestra, and a touring double-bass player, Kowald collaborated with many European f ...

and Assif Tsahar * 2001 – '' No One in Particular'' (Survival) with Rashied Ali Quintet * 2004 – '' The Dynamic Duo Remember Trane and Bird'' ( Ayler) with Arthur Rhames * 2006 – '' Judgment Day Vol. 1'' (Survival) with Rashied Ali Quintet * 2006 – '' Judgment Day Vol. 2'' (Survival) with Rashied Ali Quintet * 2008 – '' Going to the Ritual'' (

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., a locom ...

) with bassist

* 2009 – ''At the Vision Festival'' (Blue Music Group) with Greg Tardy, James Hurt, Omer Avital * 2009 – ''Eddie Jefferson at Ali's Alley'' (Blue Music Group) with Eddie Jefferson * 2009 – ''Cutt'n Korners'' (Blue Music Group) with Greg Tardy, Antoine Drye and

Abraham Burton Abraham Augustus Burton Jr. (born March 17, 1971) is an American saxophonist and bandleader. Biography Burton was born in New York City on March 17, 1971, and was raised in Greenwich Village. He studied at the Hartt School from 1989 to 1993, gra ...

* 2009 – '' Live in Europe'' (Survival) with Rashied Ali Quintet * 2010 – '' Spirits Aloft'' (Porter) with bassist Henry Grimes * 2020 – '' First Time Out: Live at Slugs 1967'' (Survival) with Rashied Ali Quintet With Afro Algonquin (Lee Rozie, Rick Rozie, Ali) * 1980 – ''Afro Algonquin'' (Moers) With By Any Means ( Charles Gayle, William Parker, Ali) * 1993 – '' Touchin' on Trane'' (FMP) * 2008 – '' Live at Crescendo'' (Ayler Records) With Prima Materia * 1994 – ''Peace on Earth: The Music of John Coltrane'' (Knitting Factory) with guests

John Zorn John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conducting, conductor, saxophonist, arrangement, arranger and record producer, producer who "deliberately resists category". His Avant-garde music, avant-garde and experimental music, ex ...

, Allan Chase * 1995 – ''Meditations'' (Knitting Factory) * 1995 – ''Bells'' (Knitting Factory) * 2009 – ''Configurations: The Music of John Coltrane'' (Blue Music Group)

As sideman

With

Gary Bartz Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards. Biography Bartz was first exposed to jazz as the son of the owners of a jazz nightclub in Baltimore. In 1958 he left Baltimore to study at the J ...

*'' Home!'' (Milestone, 1970) With

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (6 March 1941 – 22 June 2023) was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his m ...

*''

Songlines A songline, also called dreaming track, is one of the paths across the land (or sometimes the sky) within the animist belief systems of the Aboriginal cultures of Australia. They mark the route followed by localised "creator-beings" in the Dr ...

'' (FMP, 1994) With Michael Bocian *''Go Groove'' (1991) With

Marion Brown Marion Brown (September 8, 1931 – October 18, 2010) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz scene in New York City during the 1960s, playing alongsi ...

*'' Marion Brown Quartet'' (1966) *'' Why Not?'' (1968) With Alice Coltrane *'' A Monastic Trio'' (1968) *'' Huntington Ashram Monastery'' (1969) *'' Journey in Satchidananda'' (1970) *'' Universal Consciousness'' (1971) With

*''

'' (Impulse!, 1965) *'' Live at the Village Vanguard Again!'' (Impulse!, 1966) *'' Live in Japan'' (Impulse!, 1966) *'' Offering: Live at Temple University'' (Resonance, 1966) *'' Interstellar Space'' (Impulse!, 1967) *'' Stellar Regions'' (Impulse!, 1967) *'' Expression'' (Impulse!, 1967) *'' The Olatunji Concert: The Last Live Recording'' (Impulse!, 1967) *'' Cosmic Music'' (Impulse!, 1968) With

Hal Galper Harold Galper (born April 18, 1938) is an American jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, educator, and writer. Biography He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, United States. Galper studied classical piano as a boy, but switched to jazz wh ...

* ''Art Work'' (Origin, 2009) With Rudolph Grey * ''Implosion '73'' (New Alliance, 1991) * ''Mask of Light'' (New Alliance, 1991) With the John Lewis Sound * ''Get to This Y'all!'' (Miles Ahead, 2003) With

Jackie McLean John Lenwood McLean (May 17, 1931 – March 31, 2006) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, bandleader, and educator. He is one of the few musicians to be elected to the ''DownBeat'' Hall of Fame in the year of their death. Bio ...

*'' 'Bout Soul'' (Blue Note, 1967) With Tisziji Munoz *''The River of Blood'' (Anami Music, 1997) *''Present Without A Trace'' (Anami Music, 1997) *''Spirit World'' (Anami Music, 1997) *''Presence of Truth'' (Anami Music, 1999) *''Presence of Joy'' (Anami Music, 1999) *''Presence of Mastery'' (Anami Music, 1999) *''Breaking the Wheel of Life and Death'' (Anami Music, 2000) *''Parallel Reality'' (Anami Music, 2000) *''The Hu-Man Spirit'' (Anami Music, 2001) *''Shaman-Bala'' (Anami Music, 2002) *''

Divine Radiance In theology, divine light (also called divine radiance or divine refulgence) is an aspect of divine presence perceived as light during a theophany or vision, or represented as such in allegory or metaphor. Light has always been associated with ...

'' (Anami Music, 2003) *''Divine Radiance Live!'' (Anami Music, 2013) *''Paul Shaffer Presents: Tisziji Muñoz – Divine Radiance Live!'' DVD (Anami Music, 2013) *''Sky Worlds'' (Anami Music, 2014) With David Murray *'' Body and Soul'' (1993) With

*'' Original Phalanx'' (DIW, 1987) *'' In Touch'' (DIW, 1988) With

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...

*''

Everything Everything, every-thing, or every thing, is all that exists; it is an antithesis of ''nothing'', or its complement. It is the totality of things relevant to some subject matter. Without expressed or implied limits, it may refer to . The uni ...

'' (Thirsty Ear, 1996) With the Saheb Sarbib Quintet * ''It Couldn't Happen Without You'' (Soul Note, 1984) With

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

* '' On This Night'' (Impulse, 1965) With Alan Shorter * ''

Orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involu ...

'' (Verve, 1968; reissued in 1969 as ''Parabolic'') With Andrew Sterman * ''Blue Canvas with Spiral'' (Breath River, 2003) With Stoker * ''Syncopate'' (Douglas Music, 1997) With the Joris Teepe Big Band * ''We Take No Prisoners'' (Challenge, 2009) With

*'' Music Speaks Louder Than Words'' (DIW, 1996) With Frank Wright *'' Blues for Albert Ayler'' (ESP-Disk, 2012)

References

External links

Official site
* Patrick Jarenwattananon

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, August 13, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ali, Rashied 1933 births 2009 deaths African-American drummers African-American Muslims American jazz drummers Converts to Islam DIW Records artists Free jazz drummers Jazz musicians from New York City United States Army soldiers 20th-century American drummers American male drummers American male jazz musicians 21st-century American drummers Phalanx (band) members 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American musicians FMP/Free Music Production artists Survival Records artists Muslims from Pennsylvania Muslims from New York (state) Drummers from New York City Drummers from Pennsylvania