Barry Altschul is a magnificent drummer who gained fame in the late 60's with pianist Paul Bley and others playing in the "outside" style of jazz that had been evolving steadily since Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and others broke ground.
Barry has beautiful traditional chops and when he recorded with Chick Corea during the Circle era, Barry had a high-pitched Gretsch kit with add-on drums and percussion instruments, which he integrated seamlessly in a whirlwind of sound. No one sounded quite like him at the time, and his nuclear energy served him well when he teamed up with Sam Rivers and Anthony Braxton throughout the seventies. Barry also made a few excellent solo albums and probably did more gigging on the other side of the Atlantic during the "dry years" in the USA.
Altschul's drumming with that band was stylistically all-encompassing -- in his own words, "from ragtime to no time" -- thanks to his background in traditional jazz styles, which gave him a solid grounding on which to build his free playing.
Altschul was largely self-taught until 1960, when he began study with Charlie Persip.
Altschul was a member of the Jazz Composer's Guild and the Jazz Composer's Orchestra Association from 1964-68.
BarryAltschul is a magnificent drummer who gained fame in the late 60's with pianist Paul Bley and others playing in the "outside" style of jazz that had been evolving steadily since Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and others broke ground.
Barry has beautiful traditional chops and when he recorded with Chick Corea during the Circle era, Barry had a high-pitched Gretsch kit with add-on drums and percussion instruments, which he integrated seamlessly in a whirlwind of sound.
Barry also made a few excellent solo albums and probably did more gigging on the other side of the Atlantic during the "dry years" in the USA.
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