The great jazz drummer Idris Muhammad has died at age 74.
Above, “Peace,” from his 1971 album “Peace and Rhythm.” Below, the widely-sampled “Peace of Mind,” 1974. More of his work at Amazon, discogs.com, and here is his Wikipedia bio. Below, some of his best known work, and a few live clips.
From the New Orleans Times-Picayune obituary:
His cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but Williams and other friends noted that Muhammad had been receiving dialysis treatment in New Orleans — where he had returned from New York City to retire back in 2011.
While he had spent the past two decades working with jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, Muhammad’s drumming covered almost every genre of contemporary music, including rock ‘n’ roll. He toured or recorded with a who’s who of big names — Roberta Flack, Grover Washington, George Benson, Sonny Stitt and John Scofield, to name a few. Williams said that Muhammad got his first national touring gig with Sam Cooke before moving on to Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield and beyond.
“He was eclectic in terms of his playing,” Williams said. “He mixed the New Orleans sound, that sound of the street music, with jazz music and rock ‘n’ roll, and had all that intertwined,” Williams explained. “He tuned his drum to get the sound from the New Orleans street bands, the marching bands, and he’d get that kind of sound that would come from New Orleans. That’s why he was so sought after.
“He had the syncopation of New Orleans.”
