rashied ali at the blue monk friday & saturday
October 20th, 2006 by Dave Allen
Rashied Ali, the vigorously creative drummer who served as foil on Coltrane’s “Interstellar Space,” which “The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD” calls Coltrane’s “final masterpiece” constituting “a search for the time beyond time, an uncountable pulse which would represent a pure musical experience not chopped into bars and choruses.” A reputation as a free-jazz firebrand was attached to Ali with that memorable performance, but though he’s continued to work with Coltrane’s compositions and ideas, he’s also established his own identity as musician and bandleader — and it’s by no means all about wild intensity. Read The Oregonian’s Marty Hughley’s preview here. Advance tickets can be bought here.
October 23rd, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Hughley? He’s a theater critic now. . . HA! you could at least quote a so-called “jazz critic”. . .Here’s what the idiot in the WWeek sed:
If drummer Rashied Ali had only ever played on John Coltrane’s landmark “Interstellar Space”—an ecstatic, multidirectional series of pulsating, urgently spiritual sax-drum duets—he’d be a legend. But in fact, this awe-inspiring, combustible, whirling-dervish jazz energy has remained a guiding light for more than 40 years, working with giants like Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Paul Bley, Archie Shepp, Bill Dixon, and Albert Ayler, and inspiring acolytes with his strength and emotional intensity. From his throne, Ali continues to deliver kaleidoscopic, suspenseful tours of jazz history, a backwards-forwards, push-me/pull-you ride that embraces jazz’s “sound of surprise” and the gorgeous depths of melody simultaneously. This excellent unit (featuring Seattle-ite trumpeter Jumaane Smith, pianist Greg Murphy, Lawrence Clark, tenor sax and Joris Teepe, bass) is one of his strongest in years.
October 23rd, 2006 at 2:45 pm
Hi Tim, I don’t think yours was posted when I ran the blurb…!