1. Rashied Ali, born Robert Patterson, was an American free jazz and avant-garde drummer who was best known for performing with John Coltrane in the last years of Coltrane's life.
13 Facts About Rashied Ali
1. 2.
Rashied Ali's family was musical; his mother sang with Jimmie Lunceford.
3.
Rashied Ali's brother, Muhammad Ali, is a drummer, who played with Albert Ayler.
4.
Rashied Ali joined the United States Army and played with military bands during the Korean War.
5.
Rashied Ali was scheduled to be the second drummer alongside Elvin Jones on John Coltrane's free jazz album Ascension, but he dropped out just before the recording was to take place.
6.
Rashied Ali recorded with Coltrane beginning in 1965 on the album Meditations.
7.
Rashied Ali "became important in stimulating the most avant-garde kinds of jazz activities," playing what Coltrane described as "multi-directional rhythms".
8.
Rashied Ali was a visiting artist at Wesleyan University, sponsored by Clifford Thornton.
9.
Rashied Ali briefly formed a non-jazz group called Purple Trap with Japanese experimental guitarist Keiji Haino and jazz-fusion bassist Bill Laswell.
10.
In 1985, Rashied Ali performed with the band There Goes the Neighborhood with Jaco Pastorius, Jorma Kaukonen, Doug McClean, Whitie Melvin, and Ben Prevo.
11.
Rashied Ali is the featured drummer on Azar Lawrence's album Mystic Journey, recorded in April 2009 and released in May 2010.
12.
Rashied Ali died at the age of 76 in a Manhattan hospital after suffering a heart attack.
13.
Rashied Ali was survived by wife Patricia and three children.