Rashied Ali Tribute Band @ Drom 2/25/12

It wasn't Galactic but it was a good pre-cursor to the late night Soul Rebels show.  I just don't like Terminal 5, so I opted out of the Galactic show even though it looked great.

Anyway, I enjoyed this band.  Eric McPherson was on drums.  I love him from Aethereal Bace among other things.  Ali was into many soloists around a rhythm section and they definitely paid tribute.  I enjoyed the long solos a lot.  The drums had me going.

Lawrence Clark – Tenor
Josh Evans – Trumpet
Greg Murphy – Piano
Joris Teepe – Bass
Eric McPherson - Drums

http://www.dromnyc.com/events/1445/rashied-ali-tribute-band
Obvious to many, John Coltrane played a major and invaluable role both musically and personally in Rashied Ali’s life. Rashied polished and refined his "multidirectional" style of drumming alongside Coltrane. Those who were fortunate enough to have performed with Rashied recognized his genius and his important contributions and innovations to the jazz art form. Rashied’s mission was to "push the music forward" and to "make a difference." With this in mind, he formed the latest edition of the Rashied Ali Quintet in 2003 (Rashied Ali – Drums, Lawrence Clark – Tenor Saxophone, Jumaane Smith – Trumpet (later replaced by
Josh Evans), Greg Murphy – Piano and Joris Teepe – Bass).

The Quintet (in which Ali found a combination of musicians that really understood his artistic vision) released two CDs – Judgment Day Vol. 1 and Judgment Day Vol. 2 in 2005, both of which received significant national airplay and volumes of critical acclaim. In 2009, Rashied’s last recording as a leader - Live In Europe - was released on the Survival Records label. This group, which Jazz Times critic Bill Milkowski calls “… one of the more potent working quintets in jazz today,” developed a style that combined modern post-bop with Ali's trademark free jazz. They toured frequently, with their final performances taking place at The Art of Jazz festival in Toronto in June and at the Zinc Bar in NYC in July of 2009.

Greg Murphy recalls, “I remember Rashied’s Widow Patricia telling me ‘now YOU gotta keep the music alive’.” With several performances under their belt, the Rashied Ali Tribute Band is doing just that…playing Rashied’s original music and some of the other tunes he loved to play. The Quintet is now a "Collective," and the powerful music is pushing boundaries, just like it was during the many years with the Rashied Ali Quintet. They hope to continue carrying on the tradition and legacy that Rashied brought to the musical world.