Jazz Articles about Don Alias

The Electric Years Box Set

by Mike Jurkovic
November 9, 2023

In a year that has brought us a true bounty of previously unheard majesty including Evenings at the Village Gate: John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy (Impulse!), and Bill Evans; Treasures: Solo, Trio & Orchestra Recordings from Denmark (1965-1969), (Elemental Music) it is only fitting that Miles Davis get his due. And in a very, very big way. Seared into modern memory, modern art, the music presented on the gloriously massive, eleven LP set Miles Davis: The Electric Years ...

Don Alias and Jaco Pastorious

by Melanie Futorian
May 3, 2012

[Author's Note: This marks the last article in the four-part series for Cymbalism, a tribute to the great percussionist and my companion, Don Alias. Please look for the forthcoming photo book on Amazon.com, Don Alias: The Moments We Spent. As well, keep an eye out for my upcoming for All About Jazz interviews with David Sanborn, Miles Evans and others.]Don Alias and Jaco PastoriusI had been touring supper clubs, posh hotels and concert halls with Lou ...

Don Alias and Joni Mitchell

by Melanie Futorian
April 12, 2012

[Editor's Note: Cymbalism is an All About Jazz column featuring excerpts from an upcoming autobiography on the late, great percussionist Don Alias, co-written by Melanie Futorian, his companion for the last seven years of his life. This installment covers Alias' collaboration with singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell] Joni and I were living together working on our romance. She was a prolific genius; a woman who wrote about what happened in her life. I had introduced her to my musical world ...

Don Alias and Miles Davis

by Melanie Futorian
March 21, 2012

[Editor's Note: Cymbalism is an All About Jazz column featuring excerpts from an upcoming autobiography on the late, great percussionist Don Alias, co-written by Melanie Futorian, his companion for the last seven years of his life. This installment covers Alias' work on trumpeter Miles Davis' iconic Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970)]It was [drummer] Tony Williams who actually called me for that unforgettable Bitches Brew session. Man, when I walked into the studio and I saw the Bitches Brew personnel ...

Don Alias and Nina Simone

by Melanie Futorian
February 23, 2012

[Editor's Note: Cymbalism is a new All About Jazz column that will feature excerpts from an upcoming autobiography on the late, great percussionist Don Alias, co-written by Melanie Futorian, his companion for the last seven years of his life. This installment pays tribute to the sixth anniversary of his death in March, 2006.] Don Alias and Nina SimoneIt was Gene Perla who called me up one day and said, “Hey man, why don't you just try ...

Brecker Brothers: Return of the Brecker Brothers

by AAJ Italy Staff
January 22, 2009

Hanno sdoganto il jazz rock per portarlo verso la fusion. In poco tempo si sono imposti come i pilastri di una premiata ditta di session man di assoluto valore. Hanno girato in lungo e in largo tutti i migliori studi di registrazione per dare il loro contributo ai più blasonati artisti. Negli anni '70 hanno arruolato gente del calibro di David Sanborn, Don Grolnick, Will Lee, George Duke e si sono imposti come un duo delle meraviglie che attraverso una ...

Don Alias: Heart, Soul and Lungs

by Mike Brannon
May 22, 2006

We have lost one of the greats.

The proverbial six-degrees-of-separation aside, Don Alias, has played with everyone. Active since the late '50s, he stands as easily the most influential percussionist in jazz and one of the few who ever transcended jazz and flamenco successfully and could by all accounts truly swing hard on congas. Alias has created or added an almost spiritual dimension to the pivotal work of Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell (touring with the dream band of Mike Becker, ...