Milford Graves (20/08/41 - 12/02/21)

Percussionist, rather than drummer. This is the credit given to Milford Graves, who has died at the age of 79, on the New York Art Quartet’s eponymous 1964 album.

The distinction is anything but insignificant because Graves was brilliantly expanding the traditional role of the ‘traps set’ on his startling work in an inspired ensemble that features trombonist Roswell Rudd, alto saxophonist John Tchicai, double bassist Lewis Worrell and poet Amiri Baraka, then known by the name of Leroi Jones.

Graves made a monumental contribution to the recording through his versatility above all else. On one hand he brings an advanced, instinctive lightness of touch to the arrangements, sprinkling notes around the horns like specks on a canvas with the skill of an impressionist painter, allowing the songs to have daringly open spaces that conspire to make his discreet scrapes and rolls as impactful as fingers skimming a keyboard. On the other he invigorates the music with jittery, gyratory patterns that are a hyper fragmented funk that sits powerfully against the airy swing of his cymbals. 

It is a grandstand performance that cements Graves’ place in history. Yet a few years earlier he had already started to make his first steps on the burgeoning experimental end of the East coast scene that became largely termed avant-garde or ‘New Thing’. In 1962, Graves, born in Jamaica, New York, was playing with saxophonist Guiseppi Logan and went on to appear on his recordings for ESP, the label that also issued the New York Art Quartet album. Although he worked with other forward thinkers such as Bill Dixon (at the ‘October Revolution’ concerts), Albert Ayler, Paul Bley and Sonny Sharrock Graves made forays into the mainstream, playing with the legendary South African singer Miriam Makeba and Latin-jazz conga player Montego Joe.

Graves’ own solo work, that featured fellow sticksmen such as Sunny Morgan and Andrew Cyrille, enhanced the orchestral possibilities of the drums, and made it clear that tom, snare, kick and ride could do much more than keep steady time or deploy a standard polyrhythmic vocabulary. Graves was a tremendously eclectic individual who practised martial arts and alternative medicine, and also became a highly respected educator in the latter stage of his life. He also remained active musically, recording throughout the 2000s with a wide array of very different personalities that included Don Pullen, John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, William Parker and Bill Laswell.  

Although he was not as well known as some of his peers, Graves nonetheless embodied one of the most important ideals in creative music: the courage to pursue new ideas, challenge existing paradigms and not place any limitations on the use of an instrument. He was part of a deeply rooted tradition in African-American culture in which question is as valuable as answer, and tomorrow is always the question.

Kevin Le Gendre