Ed Blackwell


Edward Joseph Blackwell was an American jazz drummer born in New Orleans, Louisiana, known for his extensive, influential work with Ornette Coleman.

Biography

Blackwell's early career began in New Orleans in the 1950s. He played in a bebop quintet that included pianist Ellis Marsalis and clarinetist Alvin Batiste. There was also a brief stint touring with Ray Charles. The second line parade music of New Orleans greatly influenced Blackwell's drumming style and could be heard in his playing throughout his career.
Blackwell first came to national attention as the drummer with Ornette Coleman's quartet around 1960, when he took over for Billy Higgins in the quartet's stand at the Five Spot in New York City. He is known as one of the great innovators of the free jazz of the 1960s, fusing New Orleans and African rhythms with bebop. In the 1970s and 1980s Blackwell toured and recorded extensively with fellow Ornette Quartet veterans Don Cherry, Charlie Haden, and Dewey Redman in the quartet Old and New Dreams.
In the late 1970s Blackwell became an Artist-in-Residence at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Blackwell was a beloved figure on the Wesleyan Campus until he died.
In 1981, he performed at the Woodstock Jazz Festival, held in celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Creative Music Studio. "The Ed Blackwell Project" members were Mark Helias, bass, Carlos Ward, alto sax/flute, and Graham Haynes, cornet.

Death

After years of kidney problems, Blackwell died in 1992. The following year he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.

Discography

As leader

With Old and New Dreams
With Ray Anderson
With Bill Barron
With Karl Berger
With Jane Ira Bloom
With David Bond
With Charles Brackeen
With Anthony Braxton
With Marion Brown
  • Vista
  • Awofofora
With Ornette Coleman
With Steve Coleman
  • Rhythm in Mind
With Don Cherry
  • Complete Communion
  • The Avant-Garde
  • Symphony for Improvisers
  • Where is Brooklyn?
  • El Corazón
  • Mu First Part
  • Mu Second Part
  • Broken Shadows
  • Relativity Suite
  • Tamma with Don Cherry and Ed Blackwell
  • Multikuti
With Jayne Cortez
  • Everywhere Drums
With Stanley Cowell
  • Regeneration
With Anthony Davis
With Eric Dolphy
  • At the Five Spot, Vols 1 & 2
  • Memorial Album
  • Here and There
  • Dash One
With Dewey Redman
With Charlie Haden
With Albert Heath
With Clifford Jordan
With Joe Lovano
With Jemeel Moondoc
With David Murray
With Art Neville
With Yoko Ono
With Hilton Ruiz
With Archie Shepp
With Bob Stewart
With Mal Waldron
With Wadada Leo Smith