Obvious to many, John Coltrane played a major and invaluable role both musically and personally in Rashied's education. He was also heavily influenced by John's approach to life in general. Rashied Ali carried on the tradition. Those of us who were fortunate enough to have performed with him most likely recognized his genius, important contributions and innovations to the jazz art form. Others, ho
wever, may not realize that Rashied had a philosophy and school of thought which was inseparable from his musical direction. I created this page because playing with Rashied was not only an important educational and personal adventure, it was like attending a University...taught by an extremely cool and hip cat! Please post comments in order to help me improve the content. Thanks, Greg Murphy
Rashied Ali walked the earth with a powerful and passionate presence. All his endeavors, his family, his music, and his friends, received his passionate dedication. As his drumming was multidirectional and rhythmical, so was his life. He walked many paths as a father, son, husband, mentor, and innovator. Ali was unique with the agility and grace to fill all of these roles with love. Ali developed the style known as "free jazz" drumming, which liberates the percussionist from the role of human metronome. As Ali said, "I never really thought of ... being an innovator, I was always just trying to move the music, you know, play something different from what I hear all the time." His effort in this direction is what came to define him as a musician. In his music and life he always strove to higher levels of freedom, forever questioning rigid traditions and with that vision, defining his life for himself and his loved ones. Philadelphia born, Ali began his musical career as a child, raised in a family of musicians. He discovered his passion for drumming in the U.S. Army and started gigging in Germany where he was stationed. He defined himself as a percussionist, able to play any kind of music. His love for free jazz above all, did not stop him from playing bebop, rock ' roll, funk, blues, straight ahead, and all styles that the musical scene offered. Ali made New York City his home in the early 1960's. As a drummer he fiercely played his way through the avant-garde scene, leaving his mark on musical free spirits such as Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Paul Bley, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon and Albert Ayler. Ali had grown up listening to one of his musical gurus, John Coltrane. Ali said, "I learned from Coltrane that I don't care how much you think you know, there's always some more stuff you can learn, so you just have to be humble with this stuff man and just try to learn as much as you can, cause the minute you think you got it all, that's when it all closes down, you ain't got nothing else to learn any more, you're dead, you can just shovel some dirt in your face." Ali and Trane generated many musical gems that continue to move the listener through all phases of human emotion. Ali died in the prime of his career, always learning more, challenging himself, moving the music until the end. His independent and innovative thinking led Ali to open the loft-jazz club, Ali's Alley, in 1973, and to establish his own label, Survival Records. Ali's Alley began as a musical outlet for the New York Avant-Garde, but soon became a melting pot of music, people, food, and good times. Rashied mentored many young musicians, whom he welcomed into his family. He cultivated independent free thinking in his young musicians and fostered that same spirit in his family. Throughout his life Ali was a devoted and loving father and husband to his wife, Patricia, and his children. He was always present and supportive of his family. He taught everyone around him to follow their hearts and minds despite obstacles from the outside world. His contagious spirit and passion inspired all those around him and through these relationships he will always be remembered, loved and cherished. By Akeela Ali Azcuy
Below is his biography:
Rashied Ali is a progenitor and leading exponent of multidirectional rhythms/polytonal percussion. A student of Philly Joe Jones and an admirer of Art Blakey, Ali developed the style known as "free jazz" drumming, which liberates the percussionist from the role of human metronome. The drummer interfaces both rhythmically and melodically with the music, utilizing meter and sound in a unique fashion. This allows the percussionist to participate in the music in a harmonic sense, coloring both the rhythm and tonality with his personal perception. By adding his voice to the ensemble, the percussionist becomes an equal in the melodics of collective musical creation rather than a "pot banger" who keeps the others all playing at the same speed. Considered radical in the 1960s and scorned by the mediocre, multidirectional rhythms, polytonal drumming is now the landmark of the jazz percussionist. A Philadelphia native, Rashied Ali began his percussion career in the U.S. Army and started gigging with rhythm and blues and rock groups when he returned from the service. Cutting his musical teeth with local Philly R&B groups, such as Dick Hart & the Heartaches, Big Maybelle and Lin Holt, Rashied gradually moved on to play in the local jazz scene with such notables as Lee Morgan, Don Patterson and Jimmy Smith. Early in the 1960s the Big Apple beckoned, and soon Rashied Ali was a fixture of the avant-garde jazz scene, backing up the excursions of such musical free spirits as Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Paul Bley, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon and Albert Ayler. It was during this period that Rashied Ali made his first major recording (On This Night with Archie Shepp, on the Impulse label) and began to sit in with John Coltrane's group at the Half Note and other clubs around Manhattan. In November 1965 John Coltrane decided to use a two-drummer format for a gig at the Village Gate; the percussionist Trane chose to complement the already legendary Elvin Jones was Rashied Ali. Thus began a musical odyssey whose reverberations are still felt in the music today--Trane probing the outer harmonic limits and changing the melodic language of jazz while Rashied Ali turned the drum kit into a multi-rhythmic, polytonal propellant, helping fuel Coltrane's flights of free jazz fancy. The rolling, emotion-piercing music generated by the Coltrane/Ali association is still being discussed, analyzed, reviewed and enjoyed in awe as the new compact disk format introduces the era to a new host of the sonically aware. After Coltrane's passing in 1967, Rashied Ali headed for Europe, where he gigged in Copenhagen, Germany and Sweden before settling in for a study period with Philly Joe Jones in England. Upon his return from the continent, Rashied Ali resumed his place at the forefront of New York's music scene, working and recording with the likes of Jackie McLean, Alice Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Gary Bartz, Dewey Redman and others too numerous to mention here. In response to the decaying New York jazz scene in the early 1970s, Rashied Ali opened the loft-jazz club, Ali's Alley, in 1973 and also established a companion enterprise, Survival Records. Ali's Alley began as a musical outlet for New York avant-garde but soon became a melting pot of jazz styles. Although the Alley closed in 1979, its legacy continues in the New York jazz scene and Rashied Ali has been busy gigging with a virtual Who's Who in jazz, refining his music and encouraging a host of younger musicians. In the '80s and '90s, his presence on the scene was sporadic; he performed on occasion with bassist Jaco Pastorius, and recorded with tenor saxophonist David Murray. In 1987 he recorded and performed as a member of the group Phalanx, with guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer, tenor saxophonist George Adams, and bassist Sirone. Also in that year Rashied formed a group with multi-instrumentalist Arthur Rhames, saxophonist Antoine Roney, bassist Tyler Mitchell, and pianist Greg Murphy. In 1991, he made the critically acclaimed album Touchin' on Trane with bassist William Parker and tenor saxophonist Charles Gayle, a group called By Any Means that was formed in the ‘80s and continues to perform today. In the early ‘90s he formed a quintet with Ravi Coltrane, Matt Garrison, Greg Murphy and guitarist Gene Ess, releasing their 1992 recording No One in Particular in 2001. One tour of France with this group featured Carlos Santana and Archie Shepp. The '90s also found Ali at the helm of the band, Prima Materia, an ensemble dedicated to interpreting the late works of Coltrane and Albert Ayler. This group has toured extensively, and in 1994, 1995, and 1996, they recorded Peace on Earth, Meditations, and Bells for the Knitting Factory Works label. He also appeared on more than half-a-dozen discs with guitarist Tisziji Muñoz – the majority of which were recorded in Rashied’s own Survival Studios. In 2003 Rashied formed The Rashied Ali Quintet. In 2005 they released two CDs – Judgment Day Vol. 1 and Judgment Day Vol. 2, both of which received significant national airplay and volumes of critical acclaim. In 2009 Live In Europe by the Rashied Ali Quintet was released on the Survival Records label. This group, which Jazz Times critic Bill Milkowski calls “…one of the more potent working quintets in jazz today,” developed a style that combined modern post-bop with Ali's trademark free jazz. This group toured frequently, with their final performances taking place at The Art of Jazz festival in Toronto in June and at the Zinc Bar in NYC in July of 2009.
