Pheeroan akLaff

American jazz drummer

Pheeroan akLaff
Pheeroan akLaff with the Oliver Lake Trio, Saalfelden, Austria, 2009
Background information
Born	(1955-01-27) January 27, 1955 (age 69)
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Drums, percussion

Musical artist

Pheeroan akLaff (born Paul Maddox January 27, 1955) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist.^[1]^[2]^[3] He began playing in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan and Ann Arbor, with R & B keyboardist Travis Biggs, funk keyboardist Nimrod “The Grinder” Lumpkin, The Ebony Set and The Last Days. He moved to New Haven, Connecticut, and formed a group with saxophonist/flautist/percussionist Dwight Andrews. He debuted with saxophonist Bill Barron in 1975, followed by a tenure in Leo Smith's ‘New Dalta Ahkri’ (1977-1979).^[4]

akLaff developed a longstanding association with saxophonist and poet Oliver Lake starting in 1975, which included writing for their fusion ensemble, ‘Jump Up’.^[4] He recorded with Lake on and off from 1980-1992. His extensive work as a session musician includes collaborations with prominent jazz musicians Geri Allen, Andrew Hill, Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Don Byron, Julius Hemphill, Henry Threadgill, Mal Waldron, Sonny Sharrock, Anthony Davis and Reggie Workman.^[5] In 2006 he co-founded Seed Artists in Brooklyn. In 2009, he reestablished his creative partnership with Wadada Leo Smith after thirty years, and has recorded with him since, including Ten Freedom Summers, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2013. akLaff currently teaches music at Wesleyan University.

Discography

As leader

1983: Fits Like a Glove (Gramavision)
1989: Sonogram (Mu Works)
1998: Global Mantras (Modern Masters)

As sideman

With Geri Allen

Maroons (Blue Note, 1992)

With Anthony Braxton

Anthony Braxton's Charlie Parker Project 1993 (HatART, 1993, [1995])
Knitting Factory (Piano/Quartet) 1994, Vol. 1 (Leo, 1994)
Knitting Factory (Piano/Quartet) 1994, Vol. 2 (Leo, 1994)
Seven Standards 1995 (Knitting Factory Works, 1995)

With Oliver Lake

Holding Together (Black Saint, 1975) [as Paul Maddox]
Prophet (Black Saint, 1980)
Clevont Fitzhubert (Black Saint, 1981)
Expandable Language (Black Saint, 1984)
Again and Again (Gramavision, 1991)
Zaki (hat ART, 1992)
Virtual Reality (Total Escapism) (Gazell, 1992)

With Henry Threadgill

When Was That? (1982)
Just the Facts and Pass the Bucket (1983)
New Air: Live at Montreal International Jazz Festival (1984)
Subject to Change (1985)
New Air: Air Show No. 1 (1986) with Cassandra Wilson
You Know the Number (1986)
Easily Slip Into Another World (1987)
Makin' a Move (1995)

With Jay Hoggard

The Right Place (JHVM, 2003)
Something 'Bout Believing (Twinz Records, 1999)
Love Is the Answer (Muse, 1994)
Riverside Dance (India Navigation), 1985
Love Survives (Gramavision, 1983)

With Craig Harris

Shelter (JMT 1987)
Blackout in the Square Root of Soul (JMT, 1988)

With Ray Anderson

What Because (Gramavision, 1989)

With Don Byron

Tuskegee Experiments (1992)
Bug Music (1996)

With Baikida Carroll

Shadows and Reflections (Soul Note, 1982)
Marionettes on a High Wire (OmniTone, 2001)

With Anthony Davis

Hidden Voices (India Navigation, 1979) – with James Newton
Variations in Dream-time (India Navigation, 1980)
Episteme (Gramavision, 1981)
Hemispheres (Gramavision, 1983)

With Julius Hemphill

One Atmosphere (2003)

With Uwe Kropinski

First Time in Manhattan (ITM, 1993)

With Roscoe Mitchell

Sketches from Bamboo (Moers Music, 1979)

With Amina Claudine Myers

Song for Mother E (Leo Records, 1979)

With Sonny Sharrock

Seize the Rainbow (Enemy, 1987)
Live in New York (Enemy, 1989)

With Wadada Leo Smith

Song of Humanity (Kabell, 1977) also released on Kabell Years: 1971–1979 (Tzadik, 2004)
Budding of a Rose (Moers Music, 1979)
Spirit Catcher (Nessa, 1979)
Spiritual Dimensions (Cuneiform, 2009)
Dark Lady of the Sonnets (TUM, 2011)
Heart's Reflections (Cuneiform, 2011)
Ten Freedom Summers (Cuneiform, 2012)
America's National Parks (Cuneiform, 2016)
Najwa (TUM, 2017)

With Mal Waldron

My Dear Family (Evidence, 1993)

With Reggie Workman

Summit Conference (Postcards, 1993)

With Yōsuke Yamashita

Kurdish Dance (Verve, 1993)
Dazzling Days (Verve, 1993)
Fragments 1999 (Verve, 1999)
Spider (Verve, 1996)

References

^ Kernfeld, Barry (2002). "akLaff, Pheeroan". In Barry Kernfeld (ed.). The new Grove dictionary of jazz, vol. 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Grove's Dictionaries Inc. pp. 22–23. ISBN 1561592846.
^ Cook, Richard (2005). Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia. London: Penguin Books. p. 5. ISBN 0-141-00646-3.
^ "About Pheeroan". pheeroanaklaff.com. Retrieved 2021-05-01.
^ ^a ^b Yanow, Scott. "Pheeroan akLaff: Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-04-14.
^ "Iridium Jazz Club Presents Historic Jazz Concert Thursday & Friday October 26 & 27 The Cecil Taylor Trio Featuring Henry Grimes And Phreeroan akLaff". All about jazz. 2006-10-22. Retrieved 2010-04-14.