Altschul, Barry

views updated

Altschul, Barry

Altschul, Barry, jazz and pop drummer; b. N.Y., Jan. 6, 1943. Altschul is an innovative artist associated with free jazz, but he has also worked with the mainstream. He began playing drums when he was 11, and later studied with Charlie Persip. By the mid-1960s he was a member of the Jazz Composer’s Guild and was working with Paul Bley and others. He worked with Carmell Jones, Leo Wright, and Johnny Griffin in Europe during 1968. From 1970 to 1972 he toured with Circle, along with Chick Corea, Dave Holland, and Anthony Braxton, then continued to freelance with Braxton as well as other avant-garde musicians, including Sam Rivers and the more mainstream Art Pepper. Altschul has also led his own groups and has an interest in world percussion.

Discography

Closer (1965); Ramblin’ (1966); Virtuosi (1967); Revenge (1969); Song of Singing (1970); You Can’t Name Your Own Tune (1977); Another Time, Another Place (1978); For Stu (1979); That’s Nice (1985).

—Lewis Porter