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Idris Muhammed RIP


david weiss

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An innovator for sure.

Had the great fortune to play with Idris, once with Lou Donaldson at the Left Bank in Baltimore and once with my own group - what turned out to be a magical combination with Tom Harrell, Ralph Moore and Dennis Irwin, a thoroughly enjoyable gig from beginning to end. Idris was game to play anything.

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For a time in the 1980s, he regularly appeared at the drummer at the Caravan of Dreams, whenever they would bring in a name horn player--most frequently paired with with Larry Willis (or John Hicks) and Walter Booker. So I saw him a number of times, a wonderful drummer.

Edited by kh1958
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Early on, I only knew of him through his disco albums on Kudu, did not know that he used to be "Leo Morris". The he started showing up on those Theresa sides, Then I learned who "Leo Morris" was, and then, whoa, ok, this guy's a badass, always has been, just...too bad about those disco records.

And with Ahmad Jamal...yeah, that's good stuff. Great stuff, really.

Can you ever go wrong with a New Orleans drummer? Even if you can, it won't be as wrong as it would have been otherwise.

That's my own personal superstition, right until scientifically proven wrong. And even then, right.

RIP and much love.

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One of the times I saw him and Dr. Lonnie Smith were the backing band for one of those "young lion" tenor players that I've completely forgotten by this point in time. All I remember about the show was watching Lonnie & Idris lock into an almost supernatural groove. I'm not sure I even looked at the tenor player the entire night!

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RIP.

the very most funkiest blue note sessions, 1967-71, all contain Idris. his 1st bn date, Alligator Bogaloo. Reuben Wilson- Love Bug. Grant Green Alive! he represents ths entire blue note era for me. in 2006 i chose to see him over the Rolling Stones, true story. i had just seen the stones a few months before, and after all, charlie didnt play on Grant Green Alive! so i went to the jazz club

Edited by chewy
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Wow, Michael -- that was some quartet! Saw him once with John Scofield's great "Groove Elation" quartet (Goldings and Irwin) once with Andrew Hill and Andy McKee as part of Jim Dilts' (sadly no more) "Jazz in Cool Spaces" series. Idris -- your impeccable sense of time, funkiness and unadultered joy will be missed!

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The best Idris Muhammad performance I ever saw was in Kansas City, when he performed in a group headed by guitarist Rodney Jones, with Arthur Blythe, Fred Wesley and Dr. Lonnie Smith, He was incredible, as they all were. I literally ran as fast as I could for three blocks through a heavy rainstorm to get to that concert. It was well worth it.

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