Special appearance by ex-Coltrane drummer

On July 26, a quintet led by veteran percussionist, Rashied Ali, will be giving a special concert at Radio Krakow to mark the 40th anniversary of the death of saxophonist, John Coltrane.Rashied Ali was John Coltrane’s percussionist of choice in the final and most experimental phase of his career. The young Rashied Ali was influenced by classical Indian music and is best known for creating a drumming style that eschewed regular pulse in favor of a multi-layered drone that enabled soloists to explore a theoretically infinite range of rhythmic possibilities over the top. Coltrane labeled this approach “multi-directional” and it is probably most evident on the album “Interstellar Space,” which Ali and Coltrane recorded as a duo a few months before Coltrane’s untimely death.Ali first featured with Coltrane in 1965 in a short-lived experiment with two percussionists that was composed of Coltrane’s regular quartet with the addition of Rashied Ali. The resultant cacophony resulted in the pianist, McCoy Tyner and other drummer, Elvin Jones, walking out of the band, leaving Ali as the sole percussionist, a position he was to occupy for the next two years.Coltrane carried a lot of clout with record producers and constantly encouraged them to release recordings by younger avant-garde musicians. After his death, musicians like Rashied Ali struggled to make a living. Even so, he opened his own club, Ali’s Alley, in 1973, to spread the message. He also posthumously repaid John Coltrane for his support by mentoring his young son, Ravi Coltrane, who appeared in U Muniaka jazz club just off the main square a couple of years ago.After the last few years, however, Rashied Ali has made a number of appearances around the world with high-profile performers and younger musicians. His explosive set at London’s Pizza in The Park was regarded as one of the highlights of the summer program.
Venue: Radio Krakow al. Juliusza Slowackiego 22Admission: 70 zloty/40 zloty (Students)