Warren Tartaglia (Walid al-Taha)
Encyclopedia
Warren Tartaglia (March 13, 1944 - November 1965) was a Jazz
musician, poet and one of the six founders of the Moorish Orthodox Church of America
.
He was born March 13, 1944 as Warren Tartaglia in Mt. Vernon, New York. His maternal grandfather, Harry Frank, was the first son of a Rabbi
and his maternal grandmother was Ida Frank. Ida and Harry Frank were the parents of Ruth.
Ruth married Warren’s father Vincent Tartaglia, and became Ruth Frank Tartaglia. She almost died from post-partum bleeding at his birth and was in the hospital for a month, too sick to care for him, while Warren was in an incubator, for almost a month.
Tartaglia graduated from Mt. Vernon’s A.B. Davis High School where he was friends with Mike Maggid Bey and other future MOC founders. His friend Mike Maggid was the official photographer for the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis.
When he enrolled at N.Y.U. (Washington Square
), Tartaglia ran a temple there and became the head of Orissa Province (New York State). His friend G.M. Foster (Ghulam El Fatah) would head Temple #14 in Newark, N.J. and be Governor of Behar Province (New Jersey). Tartaglia was also responsible for the chartering of Noble Order Temples 7, 22, and 23. Later, in 1965, some initiates of those temples would start the Moorish Orthodox Church at NYC’s Columbia University
.
The Sultan Rafi Sharif Bey
, brought him into the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis in Baltimore in 1959 after being introduced by a mutual friend and Noble Order member — his cousin’s friend Jane Raquel Jacobs (Yacoubi El). Tartaglia was 15 or 16 at this point and learned about Hassan Sabah and the Hashshasheen
Ismaili
Dervish
Order
. Like the Bey and Bey's father, Tartaglia was a Jazz musician and shared interests in worker rights.
Tartaglia was an alto sax player, a poet, and an artist. He played with musicians such as Yusuf Lateef, Art Blakey
, Jim Green, Freddie Mitchell, and Pony Poindexter
. Art Blakey’s son and his daughter-in-law would join the Noble Order Moors.
Tartaglia would often travel from Mt. Vernon, New York to Baltimore to visit his mother’s relatives (his aunt Ralene Frank Wasserman and her daughter, his cousin Randi) and Bey. Tartaglia became a Noble Order Moor and rose quickly in the ranks of the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis, was given a Moorish name (Walid al-Taha) and title, and the honor of heading the second Noble Order Temple.
al-Taha brought the NOMS and the MOC to the larger world as a preacher and a radio talk show host on WBAI. During his time there in 1965 he also read some of his poems on air and five were published posthumously in the collection "Destruction of Baltimore." Al Fowler, Ed Sanders
, Ghulam El Fattah (Gregory Foster
), Barbara Holland
, and Harry Fainlight
read their works over the airwaves on his show.
His The Hundred Seeds of Beirut was republished by the Chicago based Magribine Press in 2006 with additional previously unpublished works (poetry and letters) written by Warren. Most of his published poems can be found in the single issue journal "Destruction of Philadelphia."
In November 1965, he collapsed into a coma in an NYC city park, was handcuffed, and was taken to a hospital where he died ten days later. Today he is memorialized by having NOTMS Temple #2 named Walid al-Taha Memorial Temple. An obituary was published in the New York Times on November 18, 1965.
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician, poet and one of the six founders of the Moorish Orthodox Church of America
Moorish Orthodox Church of America
The Moorish Orthodox Church of America is a syncretic religious body espousing an ostensibly Eastern Christian liturgical and devotional tradition laid over a theology consisting of teachings gleaned from Ismaili Islam, Sufism , Tantra and Vedanta teachings...
.
He was born March 13, 1944 as Warren Tartaglia in Mt. Vernon, New York. His maternal grandfather, Harry Frank, was the first son of a Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and his maternal grandmother was Ida Frank. Ida and Harry Frank were the parents of Ruth.
Ruth married Warren’s father Vincent Tartaglia, and became Ruth Frank Tartaglia. She almost died from post-partum bleeding at his birth and was in the hospital for a month, too sick to care for him, while Warren was in an incubator, for almost a month.
Tartaglia graduated from Mt. Vernon’s A.B. Davis High School where he was friends with Mike Maggid Bey and other future MOC founders. His friend Mike Maggid was the official photographer for the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis.
When he enrolled at N.Y.U. (Washington Square
Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City's 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres , it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity...
), Tartaglia ran a temple there and became the head of Orissa Province (New York State). His friend G.M. Foster (Ghulam El Fatah) would head Temple #14 in Newark, N.J. and be Governor of Behar Province (New Jersey). Tartaglia was also responsible for the chartering of Noble Order Temples 7, 22, and 23. Later, in 1965, some initiates of those temples would start the Moorish Orthodox Church at NYC’s Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
The Sultan Rafi Sharif Bey
Sultan Rafi Sharif Bey
Rafi Yahya Abdullah Sharif-Bey was a pioneer in the development of Islamic culture in the United States. He was a co-founder of the Sufi group The Noble Order of Moorish Sufis, the head Mufti of Moorish Science Temple #13 in Baltimore, and involved in the Ahmadiyyah movement.-Biography:Born Yale...
, brought him into the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis in Baltimore in 1959 after being introduced by a mutual friend and Noble Order member — his cousin’s friend Jane Raquel Jacobs (Yacoubi El). Tartaglia was 15 or 16 at this point and learned about Hassan Sabah and the Hashshasheen
Hashshashin
The Assassins were an order of Nizari Ismailis, particularly those of Persia that existed from around 1092 to 1265...
Ismaili
Ismaili
' is a branch of Shia Islam. It is the second largest branch of Shia Islam, after the Twelvers...
Dervish
Dervish
A Dervish or Darvesh is someone treading a Sufi Muslim ascetic path or "Tariqah", known for their extreme poverty and austerity, similar to mendicant friars in Christianity or Hindu/Buddhist/Jain sadhus.-Etymology:The Persian word darvīsh is of ancient origin and descends from a Proto-Iranian...
Order
Tariqah
A tariqa is an Islamic religious order. In Sufism one starts with Islamic law, the exoteric or mundane practice of Islam and then is initiated onto the mystical path of a tariqa. Through spiritual practices and guidance of a tariqa the aspirant seeks ḥaqīqah - ultimate truth.-Meaning:A tariqa is a...
. Like the Bey and Bey's father, Tartaglia was a Jazz musician and shared interests in worker rights.
Tartaglia was an alto sax player, a poet, and an artist. He played with musicians such as Yusuf Lateef, Art Blakey
Art Blakey
Arthur "Art" Blakey , known later as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina, was an American Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and bandleader. He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community....
, Jim Green, Freddie Mitchell, and Pony Poindexter
Pony Poindexter
Norwood "Pony" Poindexter was an American jazz saxophonist.Poindexter began on clarinet and switched to playing alto and tenor sax growing up. In 1940 he studied under Sidney Desvigne, and following this attended Candell Conservatory in Oakland, where he based himself...
. Art Blakey’s son and his daughter-in-law would join the Noble Order Moors.
Tartaglia would often travel from Mt. Vernon, New York to Baltimore to visit his mother’s relatives (his aunt Ralene Frank Wasserman and her daughter, his cousin Randi) and Bey. Tartaglia became a Noble Order Moor and rose quickly in the ranks of the Noble Order of Moorish Sufis, was given a Moorish name (Walid al-Taha) and title, and the honor of heading the second Noble Order Temple.
al-Taha brought the NOMS and the MOC to the larger world as a preacher and a radio talk show host on WBAI. During his time there in 1965 he also read some of his poems on air and five were published posthumously in the collection "Destruction of Baltimore." Al Fowler, Ed Sanders
Ed Sanders
Ed Sanders is an American poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, author and publisher and has been a longtime member of the band The Fugs. He has been called a bridge between the Beat and Hippie generations.-Biography:...
, Ghulam El Fattah (Gregory Foster
Gregory Foster
Sir Gregory Foster was the Provost of University College London from 1904–1929, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of London from 1928 to 1930....
), Barbara Holland
Barbara Holland
Barbara Murray Holland was an American author who wrote in defense of such modern-day vices as cursing, drinking, eating fatty food and smoking cigarettes, as well as a memoir of her time spent growing up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, near Washington, D.C.-Early life:She was born on April 5, 1933, in...
, and Harry Fainlight
Harry Fainlight
Harry Fainlight was a British/American poet associated with the Beats movement.He was the younger brother of Ruth Fainlight , also a poet, who edited a posthumous volume of his work, Selected Poems, published in 1986.-Personal life:...
read their works over the airwaves on his show.
His The Hundred Seeds of Beirut was republished by the Chicago based Magribine Press in 2006 with additional previously unpublished works (poetry and letters) written by Warren. Most of his published poems can be found in the single issue journal "Destruction of Philadelphia."
In November 1965, he collapsed into a coma in an NYC city park, was handcuffed, and was taken to a hospital where he died ten days later. Today he is memorialized by having NOTMS Temple #2 named Walid al-Taha Memorial Temple. An obituary was published in the New York Times on November 18, 1965.