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Jazz Articles about Idris Muhammad
Lou Donaldson: Say It Loud
by C. Andrew Hovan
It's hard to imagine now, but there was a time when the sound of jazz could be heard lingering in the smoky corners of neighborhood bars in every major city from New York to Los Angeles. These ghetto hangouts were on what was often called the 'chitlin' circuit,' a network of predominantly black operated venues that presented organ combos as the norm. Be it at The Smiling Dog Saloon in Cleveland or The Front Room in Newark, jazz and more ...
read morePharoah Sanders Quartet: Live At Fabrik
by Chris May
One reason Pharoah Sanders was such a special artist was the prismatic nature of his music. When Sanders lit on to a new avenue of investigation, he did not in the process reject what he had been doing up until that moment. Instead, he wove the new perspective into the existing structure, enriching rather than replacing it. The result was a rainbow in which the joins between what might have been, in lesser hands, incompatible instead became inaudible, and the ...
read moreIdris Muhammad: Coming to Grips with His Greatness
by R.J. DeLuke
This interview was originally published on May 2002. “Style? No, I just play, man. I don't really have a style. Just being able to play music is a style, you know?" says the veteran drummer master Idris Muhammad in his laid-back and understated style. Others know better than to take that self-effacing comment at face value. His style developed into a unique sound over the years, a jny: New Orleans-based rhythm that has influenced many other ...
read moreIdris Muhammad with Britt Alexander: Inside The Music – The Life of Idris Muhammad
by Dave Wayne
Inside the Music: The Life of Idris Muhammad Idris Muhammad with Britt Alexander 235 pages ISBN: 978-1-4691-9216-1 XLibris Corporation 2012 In popular music, particularly before musicians' credit listings became the norm on records, drummers --and really all rhythm section stalwarts--worked in obscurity no matter how brilliant their playing was. A case in point is the legendary New Orleans funk/soul/jazz drummer Idris Muhammad (or Leo Morris prior to his conversion to Islam). Known more ...
read moreLou Donaldson: Say It Loud!
by Germein Linares
Lou Donaldson's Say It Loud! is finally on CD. Recorded for Blue Note in '69, this is one of several late-'60s albums by the legendary alto saxophonist that tend to get little respect. That's too bad, really. Apart from sporting a very capable band in trumpeter Blue Mitchell, guitarist Jimmy Ponder, organist Charles Earland and drummer Leo Morris, the five selections on Say It Loud! are undeniably fun.True, there aren't great answers on God or the circle of ...
read moreIdris Muhammad: Power Of Soul
by Glenn Astarita
“Epic Records” is in the process of reissuing sixteen titles from the popular 70’s contemporary jazz label, “CTI.” Formed by produced Creed Taylor, this label may have been the forerunner for what now is coined, “smooth or contemporary jazz.” Hence, many of the recordings by artists such as pianist, Bob James, flutist, Hubert Laws, and others, might signify an antithesis to the ear candy we currently hear on the light-jazz airwaves. Besides, “CTI” bore a signature audio sound thanks to ...
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