Don Alias at the North Sea Jazz Festival. The Hague, Holland.
Don Alias : December 25, 1939
- March 29, 2006
I met Don Alias when I first entered the Latin
music scene. Don was one of the few non-Latino
percussionists that could play to the satisfaction
of the Cubans and Puerto Ricans that dominated
the music of the 1960s. Johnny "Dandy" Rodriguez
once said he was the only non-Latin that could
play the music along with Steve Thornton. It
seems like only yesterday that Don came to
my home in Maywood, NJ, where I began LP and
where I had a small photo studio set-up in
my basement, and where I took my first photo
of him.
Born in Harlem, he grew up playing Afro-Cuban
rhythms from dance band traditions as well
as African and Haitian rhythms for dance classes.
And although Don moved to Boston to pursue
a career in biochemistry, he was still drawn
to music.
Barely able to play the drums, he was hired
as Nina Simone's drummer and eventually became
her musical director. While a young man he
became part of Miles Davis's "Bitches
Brew" album, although he was never properly
credited for playing the drums on the tune "Miles
Runs The Voodoo Down." Don was always
proud to say that he never was fired from a
job and -- except for one bout of bad health
-- always worked.
I remember so vividly Don's last performances
-- his appearance at the 2005 North Sea Jazz
Festival with David Sanborn, and his January
12, 2006 appearance at the Blue Note in NY
with the Gil Goldstein Orchestra, carrying
the rhythm without the benefit of a drummer.
I am proud to have had Don Alias as a guest
in my home, and I will truly miss this musical
giant.
To learn more about Don Alias, click
here. |
