Ed Blackwell
Edward Joseph "Ed" Blackwell ( born October 10, 1929 in New Orleans, Louisiana; † 7 October 1992 in Hartford, Connecticut ) was an American jazz drummer who was considered a " walking encyclopedia of the rhythms ," but sound and melodic aspects of drumming to the fore. He felt the tradition of New Orleans just as committed to the Africa, accompanied loosely swinging, with a continuous beat and set accents on the drums rather antiphonal to the respective soloists. In his solos, he remained close to the thematic material and always stressed the dance dimension of drumming. He was elected to the Hall of Fame of Down Beat in 1993.
Life and work
Blackwells showed interest in drums as a child. His first snare drum lesson he received in high school. During this time he was heavily influenced by Paul Barbarin, whose concerts he attended. In 1949, he begins to play in the band of Ray and Plas Johnson Rhythm & Blues. During this time he also met their Ornette Coleman. His jazz career began in 1956 with appearances with Ellis Marsalis, Harold Battiste and Alvin Batiste, with whom he ran the original American Jazz Quintet; From 1957 he also worked with Ray Charles. In 1960 he moved to New York, where he replaced in the quartet of Ornette Coleman drummer Billy Higgins and several plates recorded, among other things, on 21 December 1960, the legendary recording " Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation". In the coming years, Ed Blackwell also worked with John Coltrane ( John Coltrane & Don Cherry: "The Avant -Garde " ), Eric Dolphy and Booker Little ( "At The Five Spot Vol 1-3 " ), Don Cherry (including "Complete Communion " ) and Archie Shepp (including " On This Night" with five drummers ).
From 1965 to 1967 he belonged to the group of Randy Weston, with whom he made three tours to North Africa. The dispute Blackwells African music made itself felt in his later game. Between 1969 and 1973 he is again drummer of Ornette Coleman Quartet. He also recorded with Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Marion Brown, Karl Berger and Anthony Braxton. He was " Artist in Residence" at Wesleyan University in 1972. Here he taught in the context of African and African-American studies. In 1976 he founded with Don Cherry, Dewey Redman and Charlie Haden the band project Old and New Dreams, which he repeatedly interrupted by a deteriorating kidney disease, to work, to his death. Other partners during this time were Joe Lovano, and Mal Waldron, which results in several plates.
Blackwell, who had cared for in an Atlanta festival series, was in the nineties, often in the center of its own productions at major festivals around 1990 in New York and in 1991 in New Orleans. Also, there was Reunions, about 1987 of the American Jazz Quintet (From Bad to Badder ) and 1989 of the trio with Haden and Cherry (The Montreal Tapes). With the plate Walls - Bridges ( with Dewey Redman, and Cameron Brown, 1992), he appeared for the first time as a leader in appearance. In his " Ed Blackwell Project" ( with Graham Haynes, Carlos Ward, Mark Helias ) he plays in memory of his friend and drummer Eddie Moore colleagues.