Don Alias
Encyclopedia
Charles 'Don' Alias was an American
jazz percussionist.
Alias was best known for playing conga
s and other hand drum
s. He was, however, a capable drum kit
performer: for example, Alias played drums on the song "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" from trumpeter Miles Davis
's album Bitches Brew
(1969) when neither Lenny White
nor Jack DeJohnette
were able to play the marching band
-inspired rhythm requested by Davis.
Alias performed on hundreds of recordings, and was perhaps best known for his associations with Miles Davis
and saxophonist David Sanborn
, though he also performed or recorded with the group Weather Report
, singer Joni Mitchell
, pianist Herbie Hancock
, The Brecker Brothers, Jaco Pastorius
, Pat Metheny
and many others. Alias was born in New York City and arrived in Boston in the early 1960s intending to study medicine but, after playing congas in a number of local bands, made an abrupt career switch.
With Carla Bley
With Miles Davis
With Jack DeJohnette
With Joe Farrell
With Dan Fogelberg
With Bill Frisell
With Kenny Garrett
With Elvin Jones
With Joe Lovano
With Joni Mitchell
With Jaco Pastorius
With Carlos Santana
and John McLaughlin
With James Taylor
With Weather Report
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz percussionist.
Alias was best known for playing conga
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
s and other hand drum
Hand drum
A hand drum is any type of drum that is typically played with the bare hand rather than a stick, mallet, hammer, or other type of beater. The simplest type of hand drum is the frame drum, which consists of a shallow, cylindrical shell with a drumhead attached to one of the open ends.-Types:The...
s. He was, however, a capable drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
performer: for example, Alias played drums on the song "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" from trumpeter Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
's album Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew
Bitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...
(1969) when neither Lenny White
Lenny White
Leonard White III, better known as Lenny White is an American jazz fusion drummer, who is best known for playing in Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:...
nor Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
were able to play the marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
-inspired rhythm requested by Davis.
Alias performed on hundreds of recordings, and was perhaps best known for his associations with Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and saxophonist David Sanborn
David Sanborn
David Sanborn is an American alto saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental pop and R&B. He released his first solo album Taking Off in 1975, but has been playing the saxophone since before he was in high school...
, though he also performed or recorded with the group Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
, singer Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, pianist Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, The Brecker Brothers, Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
, Pat Metheny
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce "Pat" Metheny is an American jazz guitarist and composer.One of the most successful and critically acclaimed jazz musicians to come to prominence in the 1970s and '80s, he is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works and other side projects...
and many others. Alias was born in New York City and arrived in Boston in the early 1960s intending to study medicine but, after playing congas in a number of local bands, made an abrupt career switch.
As sideman
With Philip BaileyPhilip Bailey
Philip Irvin Bailey is an American R&B, soul, gospel and funk singer, songwriter, percussionist and actor, best known as one of the longtime members of Earth, Wind & Fire. Together with Verdine White, B. David Whitworth, and Ralph Johnson he forms the heart of the current EWF line-up on...
- Soul on JazzSoul on JazzSoul on Jazz is a 2002 album by Philip Bailey which was released on Heads Up International Records. On Soul on Jazz Bailey covered Thelonious Monk's Ruby My Dear, Earth, Wind & Fire's Keep Your Head to the Sky, Joe Zawinul's Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, Gene McDaniels's Compared to What and Herbie...
(Heads Up International, 2002)
With Carla Bley
Carla Bley
Carla Bley, née Borg, is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and band leader. An important figure in the Free Jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera Escalator Over The Hill , as well as a book of compositions that have been performed by many other...
- SextetSextet (album)Sextet is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley released on the Watt/ECM label in 1987.-Reception:Allmusic awarded the album 3 stars with a review by Richard S. Ginell stating, "The sound bathes in a polished golden ambience very much in keeping with a product...
(Watt, 1986–87) - Fleur CarnivoreFleur CarnivoreFleur Carnivore is a live album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded at the Jazzhus Montmartre in 1988 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 1989.-Reception:The album is recognised as one of Bley's finest...
(Watt, 1988) - The Very Big Carla Bley BandThe Very Big Carla Bley BandThe Very Big Carla Bley Band is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley released on the Watt/ECM label in 1991.-Reception:...
(Watt, 1990) - Looking for AmericaLooking for AmericaLooking for America is an album by American composer, bandleader and keyboardist Carla Bley recorded in 2002 and released on the Watt/ECM label in 2003.-Reception:...
(Watt, 2002)
With Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
- Bitches BrewBitches BrewBitches Brew is a studio double album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in April 1970 on Columbia Records. The album continued his experimentation with electric instruments previously featured on his critically acclaimed In a Silent Way album...
(Columbia, 1970) - On the CornerOn the CornerOn the Corner is a studio album by jazz musician Miles Davis, recorded in June and July 1972 and released later that year on Columbia Records. It was scorned by critics at the time of its release and was one of Davis's worst-selling recordings...
(Columbia 1971) - AmandlaAmandla (album)Amandla is an album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1989. It is the third collaboration between Miles Davis and producer/bassist Marcus Miller, after Tutu and Music From Siesta , and their final album together. The album mixes elements of the genres go-go, zouk, funk and swing jazz,...
(Warner Bros., 1989)
With Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer. He is one of the most influential jazz drummers of the 20th century, due to extensive work as leader and sideman for musicians like Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Keith Jarrett and Sonny...
- OnenessOneness (Jack DeJohnette album)Oneness is an album by Jack DeJohnette with Michael Cain, Jerome Harris and Don Alias, recorded in 1997 and released on the ECM label. The Allmusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine states "Oneness stands as a welcome, minimalist and challenging effort from DeJohnette".-Track listing:# "Welcome...
(ECM, 1997)
With Joe Farrell
Joe Farrell
Joseph Carl Firrantello , known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name on the CTI record label and for playing in the initial incarnation of Chick Corea's Return to Forever.-Biography:Farrell was born in Chicago...
- Penny ArcadePenny Arcade (album)Penny Arcade is a jazz album by Joe Farrell on the CTI Records label. It was recorded at the Van Gelder Studio in October 1973.-Side two:#"Hurricane Jane" – 4:25#"Cloud Cream" – 6:15#"Geo Blue" – 7:30...
(CTI, 1973)
With Dan Fogelberg
Dan Fogelberg
Daniel Grayling "Dan" Fogelberg was an American singer-songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist, whose music was inspired by sources as diverse as folk, pop, rock, classical, jazz, and bluegrass music...
- The Innocent AgeThe Innocent AgeThe Innocent Age is the seventh album by American singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg, released in 1981 . It was also one of his most successful albums; three of his four Top 10 singles on the Billboard pop chart were from this album, as well as another Top 20 single in "Run for the Roses"...
(Full Moon, 1981)
With Bill Frisell
Bill Frisell
William Richard "Bill" Frisell is an American guitarist and composer.One of the leading guitarists in jazz since the late 1980s, Frisell's eclectic music touches on progressive folk, classical music, country music, noise and more...
- UnspeakableUnspeakable (album)-Track listing:# "1968" - 4:35# "White Fang" - 5:39# "Sundust" - 2:36# "Del Close" - 5:03# "Gregory C." - 5:38# "Stringbean" - 5:57...
(Elektra Nonesuch, 2004)
With Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett
Kenny Garrett is a Grammy Award-winning American post bop jazz saxophonist and flautist who gained fame in his youth as a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and of Miles Davis's band. He has since pursued a critically acclaimed solo career...
- Black HopeBlack HopeBlack Hope is an album by Kenny Garrett , the first recorded for Warner Bros.- Track listing :* "Tacit Dance" – 6:08* "Spanish-Go-Round" – 4:08* "Computer “G”" – 10:03* "Van Gogh's Left Ear" – 7:39* "Black Hope" – 3:51...
(Warner Bros, 1992)
With Elvin Jones
Elvin Jones
Elvin Ray Jones was a jazz drummer of the post-bop era. He showed interest in drums at a young age, watching the circus bands march by his family's home in Pontiac, Michigan....
- Merry-Go-RoundMerry-Go-Round (album)Merry-Go-Round is an album by American jazz drummer Elvin Jones recorded in 1971 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars stating "the music is generally quite worthwhile, if a bit eclectic.....
(Blue Note, 1971)
With Joe Lovano
Joe Lovano
Joseph Salvatore "Joe" Lovano is a post bop jazz saxophonist, alto clarinetist, flautist, and drummer. Since the late 1980s, Lovano has been one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players, earning a Grammy award and several nods on Down Beat magazine's critics' and readers' polls...
- Tenor LegacyTenor LegacyTenor Legacy is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Joe Lovano recorded in 1993 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 4 stars stating "Lovano has created a set with a great deal of variety and some surprising moments".-Track...
(Blue Note, 1993)
With Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
- Don Juan's Reckless DaughterDon Juan's Reckless DaughterDon Juan's Reckless Daughter is a 1977 double album by the folk/pop/rock musician Joni Mitchell. It is unusual for its experimental style, expanding even further on the jazz fusion sound of Mitchell's Hejira from the year before...
(Asylum, 1977) - MingusMingus (album)Mingus is the tenth studio album by Joni Mitchell, and a collaboration with jazz musician Charles Mingus. Recorded in the months before his death, it would be Mingus's final musical project; the album is wholly dedicated to him....
(Asylum, 1979) - Shadows and Light (Asylum, 1980)
With Jaco Pastorius
Jaco Pastorius
John Francis Anthony Pastorius III , known as Jaco Pastorius, was an American jazz musician and composer widely acknowledged as a virtuoso electric bass player....
- Word of MouthWord of Mouth (Jaco Pastorius album)Word of Mouth was the second album by Jaco Pastorius, released in 1981 while the bassist was a member of Weather Report, and also the name of a big band group that Pastorius assembled and with whom he toured from 1980 to 1986...
(Warner Bros., 1980–81)
With Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
and John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin (musician)
John McLaughlin , also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist, bandleader and composer...
- Love Devotion SurrenderLove Devotion SurrenderLove Devotion Surrender is an album released in 1973 by guitarists Carlos Santana and John McLaughlin, with the backing of their respective bands . The album was inspired by the teachings of Sri Chinmoy and intended as a tribute to John Coltrane...
(Columbia, 1973)
With James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
- FlagFlag (James Taylor album)Flag is singer-songwriter James Taylor's ninth album. Released in 1979, it included songs from Taylor's music score to Studs Terkel and Stephen Schwartz's Broadway musical, Working ....
(Columbia, 1979)
With Weather Report
Weather Report
Weather Report was an American jazz-rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s. The band was co-led by the Austrian-born keyboard player Joe Zawinul and the American saxophonist Wayne Shorter...
- Weather Report (Columbia, 1971) - uncredited
- Black MarketBlack Market (album)Black Market is an instrumental jazz fusion album released by Weather Report in 1976. This album was produced by Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter. It was recorded in December 1975 and released in April 1976 through Columbia Records...
(Columbia, 1976)