Faruq Z. Bey | |
---|---|
Birth name | Jesse Davis |
Born | [1] Detroit, Michigan, USA |
February 4, 1942
Died | June 1, 2012 Detroit, Michigan |
(aged 70)
Genres | Free jazz |
Occupations | Musician, poet |
Instruments | Saxophone |
Associated acts | Griot Galaxy |
Faruq Z. Bey (born Jesse Davis, February 4, 1942 – June 1, 2012) was a jazz saxophonist and composer from Detroit, Michigan. He is best known for his work with Griot Galaxy, which played intense free jazz with distinct compositions, often by Bey. Odd meters and polyrhythms were a frequent feature of the group's tunes, which would give way to free sections. Originally started in 1972, Griot Galaxy settled into its most stable line-up around 1980, when Bey was joined by saxophonists David McMurray and Anthony Holland, as well as bassist Jaribu Shahid and drummer Tani Tabbal. Popular in Detroit for a free jazz band (often pulling audiences of a few hundred people), Griot Galaxy toured Europe in the mid-1980s and was at the height of its international acclaim, when Bey was in a serious motorcycle accident that left him in a coma.[2]
Almost a decade passed before Bey returned to performing. He re-emerged with an all woodwind ensemble called The Conspiracy Winds Ensemble. He began to play in Speaking in Tongues and Hakim Jami's Street Band. He joined forces with The Northwoods Improvisers, who devoted several releases to Bey's music. His frequent collaborators, saxophonists Michael Carey and Skeeter Shelton, joined him on most of the Northwoods Improviser's recordings. He also played in Kindred, a quartet with Kennith Green, Kevin Callaway and Joel Peterson, and in Odu Afrobeat Orchestra. Among Bey's last ensembles was The Absolute Tonalist Society with Carey, Peterson and drummer Kurt Prisbe.
Some of his most noted releases are Kins, Opus Krampus and Live at the DIA with Griot Galaxy, and Auzar and Ashirai Pattern with The Northwoods Improvisers. He collaborated and performed with Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell, Dennis González, Roy Brooks, Archie Shepp, Leroy Jenkins and Thollem McDonas.
Bey published two books of poetry, Year of the Iron Sheep and Etudes in Wanton Nesses, in addition to a theoretical/aesthetic manifesto Toward a "Ratio"nal Aesthetic (1989).
Bey died on June 1, 2012.[3] He had experienced long-term health issues including emphysema.[3]
References
- ^ [1]
- ^ Heron, W. Kim (June 25, 2003). "Musician interrupted: The story of Griot Galaxy & a renaissance for Faruq Z. Bey". Metro Times. http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=5001. Retrieved August 11, 2010.
- ^ a b Heron, W. Kim (June 2, 2012). "Detroit jazz and avant scenes lose icon in passing of Faruq Z. Bey". Metro Times. http://blogs.metrotimes.com/index.php/2012/06/detroit-jazz-and-avant-scenes-lose-icon-in-passing-of-faruq-z-bey/. Retrieved June 3, 2012.