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Rashid Bakr

Rashid Bakr was born in Chicago, and his family moved to the Bronx when he was four. He became a musician because of the profound influence John Coltrane had on him, and because Rashid’s uncle was the great “Papa” Jo Jones, the father of modern drumming. As a child, Rashid remembers that Art Blakey and Max Roach visited the family, and the former gave him his first set of sticks; one of his early playing memories is sitting in with his uncle in a Dixieland band at the World’s Fair. Later drum heroes for Rashid included Andrew Cyrille, Elvin Jones, Sunny Murray, and Milford Graves (who also gave him other mystical healing arts besides music, including acupuncture and herbology). But Rashid also loved to immerse himself in the playing of Kenny Clarke (wanting to “get some of those fine chops”), and his present favorite is Tony Williams (“for playing up top a lot”). Rashid went to Queens College to study chemistry and psychology, and to graduate school for clinical psychology at Brooklyn College. As a fan in college, he went to every John Coltrane and Miles Davis concert, and his father bought him his first drum set.

After college and an Army stint, it was saxophonist Bobby Zankel who took Rashid Bakr to audition for the Cecil Taylor big band in ‘73, and he played two concerts with Cecil Taylor at the time, one at Columbia University and the other at Carnegie Hall. William Parker was also in that band and told him about Jemeel Moondoc, who had moved to New York in ‘76, and Rashid joined Jemeel’s Ensemble Muntu from 1975 to 1981; one of the great legendary loft~era bands, Muntu recorded five albums & toured extensively. By the early ‘8O’s, Rashid Bakr was also playing with Billy Bang, Roy Campbell, Jr., Raphé Malik, David Murray, David S. Ware, Frank Wright, and others. In ‘81 Rashid rejoined Cecil Taylor for three more years, playing mostly in Europe in a quartet setting with Jimmy Lyons and William Parker.

Back in New York again from ‘83~’9O, Mr. Bakr continued working in particular with many powerhouse saxophonists, including Peter Brötzmann, Arthur Doyle, Charles Gayle, and Glenn Spearman. Rashid credits Charles Gayle with getting him into playing tunes and helping him realize the time side of his playing. In this period Rashid Bakr also became a member of the seminal quartet Other Dimensions in Music, along w/ Roy Campbell, Jr., Daniel Carter, and William Parker. Another stretch with Cecil Taylor from ‘9O to ‘95 took Rashid all over Europe “and everywhere,” also bringing him opportunities to play with special guests in the band including Lester Bowie, David Murray, and James Newton.

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Album Review

Billy Stein: Hybrids

Read "Hybrids" reviewed by Troy Collins


Hybrids, guitarist Billy Stein's debut recording, arrives after thirty years of playing sideman to some of the finest musicians in the New York area. A singular stylist with an unorthodox approach, Stein shares the same off-center sensibility as stylistic peers like Bern Nix, Joe Morris and Michael Musillami.

While attending Milt Hinton's Jazz Workshop at Hunter College in the 1970s, Stein found a kindred spirit in percussionist Kevin Norton, who now runs the Barking Hoop label. In the ...

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Performance / Tour

Vision Club Presents Joe Morris Trio w/ Louis Belogenis and Rashid Bakr - 8pm Charles Gayle Trio, 10pm

Vision Club Presents Joe Morris Trio w/ Louis Belogenis and Rashid Bakr - 8pm Charles Gayle Trio, 10pm

Source: All About Jazz

The Vision Club October 30, 2004 THE BRUNSTEIN SHOWROOM 13 Stanton St. btwn Bowery & Christie Vision Club Presents Joe Morris Trio w/ Louis Belogenis and Rashid Bakr - 8pm Charles Gayle Trio, 10pm $10 per set or $15 for the night 8pm - Morris/Belogenis/Bakr Joe Morris - Guitar “One of the most profound improvisors at work in the U.S." Will Montgomery, THE WIRE ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Muntu Recordings

NoBusiness Records
2010

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Hybrids

Barking Hoop
2006

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Videos

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