Biography
Pheeroan akLaff January 27, 1955
Pheeroan akLaff has great memories of his childhood in Detroit, Michigan. He enjoyed the sounds of his elder brother Eric, practicing to be a concert pianist, the Jazz legends in concerts halls, and the live performances of the many artists of Motown. His parents prepared him to appreciate a wide spectrum of music. His desire to perform music professionally was driven by sensing the power of music as a catalyst for collective transformation. His concern with national decline grew with the Detroit 1967 riots, the King and Kennedy assassinations and losing his cousin to the Vietnam War. These impressions led him towards activism, and the musicians who articulated responses to such in their work. His High School days as an influential student organizer of the Free Angela Davis committee, a member of the Pan-African Congress, and listener of John and Alice Coltrane was encouraged by his famed Detroit teacher Chester Littlejohn.
His studies of Speech and Drama at Eastern Michigan University were supplanted by independent study of drums and relocation to New Haven, Connecticut. He honed his skills there with ensembles that included Dwight Andrews, Nat Adderly Jr., Jay Hoggard, Wes Brown, Mark Helias, Ed Cherry, Mark Dresser, Wayne Boyd, the Rozie Brothers, the Buster brothers and several musicians from the area. On the most auspicious occasion he played with Bill Barron, substituting for Ed Blackwell at Wesleyan University.
It was Pheeroan akLaff’s work with Wadada Leo Smith and subsequently with Oliver Lake, Anthony Davis, Michael Gregory, Henry Threadgill, and others that paired him with the New York “Avant-Garde” of the late 1970’s. He moved to New York and established recognition for his ability to articulate a wide range of musical genres.
By 1981 he had the opportunity to perform and reside in West Africa. He worked with the Marie Rose Guiraud Dance Company in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire, and explored urban popular music with Frank T. Fairfax, and Fela Anikulapo Kuti in Lagos, Nigeria.
His New York career introduced him to the opportunities to work with several performance artists, particularly those dedicated to the spiritual service of their music. His drumming led him to recordings and European tours for a public that sharply contrasted the mainstream.
Throughout the Eighties and Nineties Pheeroan performed and recorded his compositions for quartet, quintet, and solo oratorio. He has been profiled by publications in the United States, Canada, Germany, Finland, India, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Japan and Australia.
He was a recipient of the New York Foundation for the Arts award for music composition in the year 2000. His teaching affiliations include; Wesleyan University, Elisabeth Irwin High School, and New School University, He is a founder of Seed Arts Inc. a non-profit organization for the promotion of healing arts and international awareness. He is an Advisory Board member of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.
Special Music Performances of Pheeroan akLaff Ensembles
Columbia University 1999. 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia, 1996
Tokyo , and Kyoto, Japan 1994, 2004
Willisau Jazz Festival, Switzerland -1993
Nurnberg Ost-West Festival Germany -1992
Moers International New Jazz Festival Germany-1989
Sju Festival , Netherlands -1993
Middleheim Festival Belgium, 1995,
Sweet Basil, New York, 1985 – 2000
Special Interactive Performances
Rob Fisher (sculptor), Dr.Julian Thayer (psycho-physiologist) and Scott Robinson (musician); Carnegie Mellon University S.C.I. 1996, University of Pennsylvania, Central Pennsylvania Arts Festival Bellefonte Pennsylvania Arts Council 1993, 1992, 1991
Yosuke Yamashita (author/musician); Sadamsa Montanaga (painter) Iga Ueno City, Japan 1992
“X” The Life & Times of Malcolm X; Anthony Davis composer New York City Opera, Premiere 1988
Jay Hoggard Group ;, U.S.I.S.tour; of Bangalore, India, Syria, Jordan , Sudan Morocco, 1985
Henry Threadgill Sextet/Jazz Yatra; Bombay and Delhi India 1984
Oliver Lake and Jump Up Band U.S.I.S.tour of ; Malawi, Togo, Swaziland, Liberia, and Cote D’Ivoire 1982
Marie Rose Guiraud Dance Company ; Abidjan, Bouake, Yamossoukro and Korhogo, Cote D’Ivoire 1981
Oyamo Charles Gordon ; "The Resurrection of Lady Lester "(Young) Manhattan Theater Company 1981, Yale Repertory Theater 1980
Jessica Hagedorn (writer), Reggie Life (director)"Mango Tango" New York Shakespeare Festival 1978
Ntozake Shange , Thulani Davis, Jessica Hagadorn Where The Mississippi Meets the Amazon" New York Shakespeare Festival 1977, 1976
Interactive Arts Workshops
Rhythm Adaptation – 1996 – Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne - 1997 Harvard University
Frederick Douglass Chronicles -text of Frederick Douglass, music of Pheeroan akLaff, Carver Cultural Center San Antonio, 1996
Drum-set Master Classes The New School University 1991-1992
Art and Music Therapy The Graham Windham Agency, Paul Dunn director, Harlem New York 1987,1986
Music Dance and Arts Workshops in Public Schools
With Musart Brooklyn 2006, 2005, 2004
With Elisabeth Irwin High School 2003, 2004, 2005
With Mickey Davidson 1999, 2000, 2001
Selected Discography
Pheeroan akLaff -recordings as leader Brooklyn Waters, Global Mantras, Sonogram, Fits Like a Glove, and House of Spirit: Mirth
featured on recordings with
Oliver Lake - Cloth, Live at Willisau, Virtual Reality, Again and Again, The Prophet, Gallery, Clevont Fitzhubert, Impala, Expandable Language, Shine, Life Dance of Is, Holding Together
Yosuke Yamashita – Field Of Grooves,Wind of the Age, Canvas In Vigor, Spider, Ways of Time, Dazzling Days, Kurdish Dance, Sakura Live, Sakura, Plays Gershwin, Crescendo
Henry Threadgill - Makin' a Move, Slippin' Into, Subject to Change, You Know the Number, Just the Facts, When Was That Mal Waldron - My Dear Family Geri Allen - Maroons, Baikida Carroll - Door Of The Cage, Marionettes, Shadows and Reflections, Don Byron - Bug Music, Tuskegee Experiments, Anthony Braxton -Charlie Parker Project, Live Piano Quartet Marty Ehrlich - The Welcome Fred Simmons -Going Forth Craig Harris - Shelter New Air - Live at Montreal, Air Show Oliver Lake andJump Up Band - Plug It, Jump Up Anthony Davis – (Malcom) “X” The Opera, Episteme, Hemispheres, Of Blues and Dreams, The Enemy of Light, Hidden Voices - James Newton - Romance and Revolution, African Flower Jerome Harris – Algorithms, Sonny Sharrock - Seize The Rainbow, "Live" Carlos Ward – Faces, Live At The Bug Jay Hoggard - Love Is The Answer, Riverside Dance, Love Survives, Rob Reddy - Post War Euphoria Mark Helias Desert Blue,
Amina Cludine Myers - Song for Mother E Ray Anderson - What Because David Murray -Karmen Gei,Yonn De,Quartet Live, Leo Smith Song O Humanity, Spirit Catcher
Print Articles
Hot House Magazine cover article April 2004
Coda Magazine cover article July/August 1997
Signature Magazine Japan, Dr. Tekemura interview April 1996
The Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Jordan interview, January 1996
The Villager, interview New York, N.Y. February 1996
Modern Drummer, Noah Howard interview 12/95,
Drums Magazine Japan, Interview 1991
Marie Claire Japan, CD review 1990,Jazz Podium, Germany 1989
Musician Magazine Ted Drozdowski interview June 1989
RYTMI Magazine Finland#9-10 interview November1987
Modern Drummer, Chip Stern interview May 1984
Midday Times Bombay, India interview January 1984
Coda Magazine Canada#186 interview January 1982
Ivoire Dimanche Magazine Ivory Coast#537 J.S. Bakiono interview June 1981
Ophelia Magazine Nigeria Volume 2 Frank Fairfax interview January 1981
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