March 29, 2006

Posted March 29, 2006

Percussionist Don Alias died in his home on Tuesday, March 28th. Don played on Joni's albums "Don Juan's Reckless Daughter", "Shadows and Light", and "Mingus" as well as being a member of the touring band for the Shadows and Light tour in 1979.

Calling upon a wide variety of musical genres, Don Alias supplied the rhythmic foundation to such luminaries as George Benson, James Taylor, Al Jarreau, Quincy Jones, Chick Corea, Miles Davis and Roberta Flack. In addition, he served as the long-time percussionist for saxophonist David Sanborn. Don's own band, Stone Alliance, has included players like Kenny Kirkland and Jan Hammer.

Alias' command of Afro-Cuban, Latin and other rhythms was unique in the jazz community. He was a master of the conga drum, and his kit includes many unique African instruments.

In lieu of sending flowers, the Alias family asks that donations be made to defray expenses. Please send to:

Mrs. Violet Richardson-Alias
1380 University Avenue, 6F
Bronx, NY 10452

Don talked about his relationship with Joni in a 1999 interview with DigitalInterviews.com:

Q: You played with Joni Mitchell. What memories stand out?

Don: She had done the Mingus stuff, and somehow or another we got to be hanging out. I used to take her up to Harlem and up to the Bronx, to get the culture and the feeling. We're talking about an extremely prolific poet and songwriter and lyricist. That stuff comes off the top of her head. She will write exactly what she lives. If she puts some money in the soda machine, she'll write about putting money in the soda machine. "Dry Cleaner from Des Moines," on the Shadows & Light album, was about sitting next to a dry cleaner from Des Moines, playing a slot machine. She jumped into the Mingus project at that time. He asked her to recite T.S. Eliot over some of his music. He also found out that she was a songwriter, so he said, "Why don't you write lyrics to my music?" So she did that. Then when she was going out on tour, she got this band together -- Pat Metheny, Mike Brecker, Jaco Pastorius, Lyle Mays, myself, with The Persuasions, an acapella doo-wop group. What a band!

Q: She was really immersed in jazz music at that time?

Don: Oh, yeah. She wanted to have that element in her music. Of course, when she heard Jaco's music and met him, that floored her -- really grabbed her. She decided that Wayne Shorter was really conducive to her music. She would speak metaphorically about things. "I want this to sound like a taxicab driver, or a taxi in New York," or "I want this to sound like a telephone ringing." She would speak to musicians like that, and we really tuned into what she would want our music to be.