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Rasul Siddik
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16 jan. 2023
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20 septembre 1949, St. Louis, MO - 16 janvier 2023, Paris
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© Jazz Hot 2023
Rasul Siddik, Toucy Jazz Festival, juillet 2014
© Mathieu Perez
Rasul SIDDIK
«Notre musique avait des racines bien spécifiques.
La musique européenne vient du classique,
notre musique vient du blues.
Ce n’est pas le même langage.
La musique européenne est plus intellectuelle
que spirituelle et soulful.
Ce sont les médias qui décident qui mettre en avant,
de qui faire une star… (…)
Nous vivons encore dans une société raciste.
On peut faire comme si on ne le voyait pas, bien sûr.
Mais l’industrie de la musique poussera
toujours Diana Krall ou Brad Mehldau
–qui sont par ailleurs de très bons musiciens–
ce sont eux qui auront la reconnaissance du public
alors qu’il y a des dizaines de musiciens de cet ordre.
Je ne réagis pas à tout ça: je sais comment ça marche,
j’en prends acte
mais ça ne doit pas m’enlever une énergie
dont j’ai besoin pour ma musique.» (Rasul Siddik, Jazz Hot n°599, avril 2003)
Rasul Siddik nous a quittés le 16 janvier 2023. Avec lui, c’est
encore un morceau de la mémoire et de l’âme du jazz qui est parti dans ce
Paris à la fois de plus en plus chaotique et aseptisé où il avait élu domicile
régulier depuis les années 1990, à l’époque où la Capitale passait encore pour cet oasis de liberté où s’était agglomérée la petite communauté
américaine du jazz dont il faisait partie avec sa compagne Katy Roberts, Kirk
Lightsey, Mra Oma, Steve McCraven, Sylvia Howard, Harry Swift, le regretté
Bobby Few ou encore John Betsch récemment reparti vivre en Floride, et tant d'autres depuis les années 1930. Rasul a donc achevé à Paris son long voyage, au terme d'une vie de nomade –démarrée avec son refus d'être enrôlé au Vietnam, comme d'autres musiciens et pas seulement–, du Midwest jusqu'à l'Europe qu'il parcourait régulièrement (son dernier album, Contemplation, a été enregistré à Varsovie), croisant ainsi la route de Joseph et Lester Bowie, de Muhal Richard Abrams et de l'AACM, de Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, David Murray, Ricky Ford.. La créativité artistique, la liberté en marge du confort matériel et l'ouverture aux autres, passant par de multiples initiatives collectives portant un projet de justice sociale, ont été le fil rouge de sa vie. Rasul vivait pour
jouer, dans une urgence viscérale de s’exprimer. Ce fin cuisinier était aussi gourmand de tout le jazz: on pouvait le croiser dans n’importe quel club où
la musique l’intéressait: au Sunset, au Caveau de La Huchette, aux 7 Lézards,
au Bab-Ilo, comme au New Morning où lors d’un concert des Cookers, en mars 2016, il avait
lancé avec un air de béatitude: «this is
the real deal, man!».
Nous garderons le souvenir de son sourire lumineux et de son œil brillant malgré les difficultés de vie et de
santé, de ses chapeaux et de ses sacs à la Mary Poppins, de son jeu âpre et bouillonnant,
plein de lyrisme, de swing, de soul et de blues. En fin d'article, vous pouvez lire les témoignages de ses amis musiciens.
Jérôme Partage
Témoignages recueillis par Mathieu Perez
Remerciements à Benjamin Sanz
Photos: Jose M. Horna, Jérôme Partage, Mathieu Perez,
Brigitte Verne by courtesy
Collection Nathan Breedlove by courtesy
Collection Michele Rosewoman by courtesy,
Image extraite de YouTube, avec nos remerciements
Rasul Siddik est né Jan Corlus Mahr le 20 septembre 1949 à
St. Louis, MO, située à équidistance de deux grandes villes de jazz: Kansas
City, MO (à l’ouest) et Chicago, IL (au nord-est). Deuxième ville du
Missouri, St. Louis possède au début du XXe siècle une industrie automobile florissante qui, à l’image de Detroit, MI, en
fait l’une des destinations de la «Grande migration» des populations
afro-américaines venues des Etats du Sud et un théâtre de la lutte pour les
Droits civiques: notamment quand le 14 juillet 1964 l’activiste Percy
Green escalade les 38 mètres de la symbolique Gateway Arch –alors en
construction– pour dénoncer le faible emploi d’Afro-Américains sur ce projet. C’est
dans ce contexte social et politique tendu que grandit le jeune Jan, cinquième
d’une fratrie de huit enfants, au sein d’une famille catholique (il ira ainsi en douce écouter les offices dans l'église baptiste du quartier dont il préférait la musique), sensible
aux arts et à la musique, encourageant sa pratique, avec un père employé de
poste et poète.
«C’était une ville dure. C’était la rue. Il y avait des gangs et tout un tas de trucs comme ça.
C’était une ville très ségréguée en plus. Il y avait pas mal de musique –ça a plus ou moins disparu maintenant–
mais il y avait des gens comme Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake, Lester Bowie…
Ce sont d’ailleurs mes principales influences musicales.
Nous nous battions pour nos droits civiques, droit de vote, etc.
L’activité politique était très importante, et je m’impliquais là-dedans
pour faire changer les choses, ma sœur était militante aussi.»
(Rasul Siddik, Jazz Hot n°599, avril 2003)
A 10 ans, il récupère la trompette de son frère aîné, prend
quelques cours et poursuit sa formation en autodidacte, tout en recevant l’aide
de musiciens de la communauté. Il fréquente la même école que son aîné John Hicks (p, 1941-2006). Au début des années 1960, il commence à jouer en
compagnie de Julius Hemphill (s), Joseph Bowie (tb), Charles
Bobo Shaw (dm) qui comptent parmi les fondateurs du collectif pluridisciplinaire
Black Artist Group (BAG, 1968-1972) mêlant free jazz, théâtre expérimental,
poésie et danse, né de la frustration commune face aux discriminations d'artistes marginalisés de St. Louis(1):«on faisait plein de concerts, dans les
églises, etc.» (Jazz Hot n°599). Il sera aussi fréquenté par le tout jeune Ronnie Burrage
(dm, né en 1959), le neveu de Rasul. S’inspirant de l’Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) de Chicago (cofondée par Muhal Richard Abrams, p), le BAG met
en place un programme d’échanges avec lui. Fuyant la
conscription(2), Jan-Rasul part pour Chicago en 1970 où il intègre pour deux ans
le Malcolm X Collège qui vient d’être baptisé ainsi, l’année précédente, en
mémoire du leader des Droits civiques assassiné en 1965.
«Comme j’avais les pieds plats et un problème au cœur, je n’aurais pas dû y aller
–sauf qu’ils envoyaient tous les Noirs au Vietnam, même si vous n’étiez pas apte. (…)
J’étais dans la musique à ce moment-là et je ne voulais pas me battre au Vietnam
alors que je n’étais pas libre aux Etats-Unis,
dans mon propre pays… J’étais contre la guerre, je refusais d’y aller,
et il y avait des combats à mener dans nos propres villes pour libérer notre propre communauté.
J’ai fini par m’en sortir mais il a fallu jouer la folie, faire comme si je sortais du groupe de Sun Ra!»
(Rasul Siddik, Jazz Hot n°599, avril 2003)
A Chicago, le trompettiste rejoint l’AACM en 1971 –synergie d’un jazz d’avant-garde mu par un projet politique pour accéder à l'autonomie («dans le sens où il s’agissait de musiciens prenant en main leur
propre destin»)– et prend le nom de Rasul Olufemi Siddik(3) comme d'autres jeunes Afro-Américains –à l'instar d'Ahmad Jamal, déjà en 1950– choisissant de «se débarrasser (des) noms légués par
l’esclavagisme» pour «définir une
nouvelle identité». Il y côtoie notamment Anthony Braxton (s), Jack
DeJohnette (dm), Henry Threadgill (s) ou les membres de l’Art Ensemble of
Chicago (Lester Bowie, tp, Roscoe Mitchell, s,…) et suit un enseignement
musical au sein de l’AACM.
«J'ai rencontré Rasul Siddik en 1970, alors que nous fréquentions tous les deux le Malcolm X Junior College à Chicago.
Il avait quitté sa ville natale de St. Louis pour Chicago.
Lui et moi, avec Chico Freeman, George Lewis et Douglas Ewart, étions les plus jeunes membres de l'AACM.
Nous nous réunissions tous et pratiquions notre musique pendant plusieurs heures chaque jour.
Rasul était un musicien très impliqué que tout le monde appréciait et admirait pour sa chaleur et son humilité.»
En 1975, il part à Los Angeles, CA où il fonde le bien nommé Now! Artet
(en référence au «Now is the time» de Martin Luther King) avec James Lewis (b) et Ghasem Batamuntu (s). Il fait également partie du collectif
Watts Towers(4) Creative Musicians, côtoie Pharoah Sanders (ts), Karlton Hester
(s, fl) et retrouve Julius Hemphill. Rasul s’installe ensuite à Oakland, CA, de l'autre côté de la Bay Area de San Francisco, une ville riche en expériences alternatives et émancipatrices, où
il monte une association, The Loft, constituée de musiciens qui s’auto-produisent
et enseignent la musique aux enfants défavorisés. Il y rencontre la chanteuse Diane Witherspoon (1948-2016) qu'il épouse. Ils auront deux filles: Asha et Dalila.
1979. Joseph Bowie/Luther Thomas/St. Louis Creative Ensemble,
I Can’t Figure Out, Moers Music (pochette verso)
«J'ai rencontré Rasul pour la première fois dans les années 1970, alors que nous faisions partie d'un collectif de musiciens et d'artistes, appelé A Love Supreme(5), qui comprenait des personnalités notables tels que les poètes Will Alexander, K. Curtis Lyle, Kamau Daoud, les musiciens Arthur Blythe, Azar Lawrence et d'autres du Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra d'Horace Tapscott, des peintres et des artisans du quartier South-Central de Los Angeles. Il était dirigé par les frères Shams et Hamid Straughter, musiciens du groupe de Tapscott, qui ont créé un concept commercial en produisant une gamme de parfums d’encens (…). Nous nous réunissions deux fois par semaine pour produire des centaines de paquets d'encens, échanger des idées créatives, des concepts et des informations pour nourrir nos réflexions futures. Rasul était ce que j'appelle un activiste de la musique et des arts.»
(Ghasem Batamuntu, s)
En 1979, Rasul Siddik fait partie de la session parisienne
du St. Louis Creative Ensemble (I Can’t
Figure Out, Moers Music), avec Joseph Bowie, Luther Thomas (s), Darrell
Mixon (b) et Charles Bobo Shaw, qui effectue une tournée en Europe. Il
collabore également avec Michele Rosewoman (p), puis rejoint en 1984 le sextet
d’Henry Threadgill avec lequel il enregistre Subject to Change (About Time) et s’établit à New York, NY.
De gauche à droite:
Rufus Reid, Tulani Davis, Michele Rosewoman,
Pheeroan akLaff, Rasul Siddik,
Sweet Basil, New York, années 1980
© Photo X, Collection Michele Rosewoman, by courtesy
«J'ai rencontré Rasul pour la première fois en 1986. Je venais de me faire engager dans le Brass Fantasy de Lester Bowie. Nous étions en tournée en Europe quand l'un des trompettistes est tombé malade et a dû retourner aux Etats-Unis. Tous les gars du groupe disaient à Lester: «Va chercher Rasul, prends Rasul». Ainsi, Lester l'a fait venir depuis la Côte Ouest (Bay Area). Il nous a rencontré dans le train. Nous avons eu une longue conversation, car nous portions tous les deux des dreadlocks. C'était un spécialiste de la santé et de l'homéopathie, il parlait de racines et d'herbes. (…) J'ai ensuite déménagé à Paris pour un court séjour, où nous nous sommes vraiment rapprochés. Il est devenu le parrain de mon deuxième enfant, Malaika Lacy.»
Rasul enregistre ainsi en Allemagne en 1986 l’album Avant Pop (ECM) avec le Lester Bowie
Brass Fantasy qu’il retrouve un an plus tard à Brooklyn sur Twilight Dreams, (Venture). Il retrouve
également, sur scène et en studio, Oliver Lake (s) et Julius Hemphill et débute
une collaboration au long-court avec David Murray (ts) (Hope Scope, 1987, Black Saint) qui se poursuit après son
installation à Paris, en 1994.
«Je venais de jouer avec David Murray à Banlieues Bleues, on avait fait la musique d’un film, je venais de rompre, et je n’avais plus d’appartement à New York. J’avais un groupe avec James Lewis et Ghasem Batamuntu: l’un vivant à Paris, l’autre à Amsterdam, et j’ai pensé pouvoir remonter ce groupe avec Steve Philips qui était là aussi. (…) Et puis James Lewis m’a proposé de jouer avec Sunny Murray et Richard Raux. Et de fil en aiguille, j’ai eu du travail (…).»
(Rasul Siddik, Jazz Hot n°599, avril 2003)
De gauche à droite: Craig Harris, Lew Tabackin, Nathan Breedlove, David Murray, Rasul Siddik,
aéroport de Stockholm, vers 2000 © Photo X, Collection Nathan Breedlove, by courtesy
A Paris, Rasul Siddik crée le Power Trio avec James Lewis et Oliver Johnson (dm), joue avec tout ce que la scène parisienne ou européenne
compte de musiciens navigant dans les esthétiques free, post-bop mais aussi
mainstream ou blues: Katy Roberts, Bobby Few, Kirk Lightsey, Jobic Le Masson,
Laurent Marode, Tom McClung (p), Harry Swift, Wayne Dockery, Dominique Lemerle, Jack Gregg, Darryl Hall, Peter Giron (b), Sunny
Murray –rencontré en 1979 lors de la tournée européenne du St. Louis Creative
Ensemble–, George Brown, Check Tidiane Fall, Steve McCraven, Benjamin Sanz, John Betsch, Ichiro
Onoe, Steve McCraven, U. Aldridge Hansberry, Bob DeMeo, Doug Sides (dm), Mra Oma (tp), Sarah Morrow, Jerry Edwards (tb), Hal
Singer, Steve Potts, Ricky Ford, Ricardo Izquierdo, Archie Shepp, Richard Raux (s), Gwen Sampé, Sylvia Howard (voc), mais également les
musiciens de passage en France comme Joe Lee Wilson (voc), Daoud-David Williams (perc) et son Spirit of Life Ensemble ou Henry Grimes en 2013.
 Le Spirit of Life Ensemble, de gauche à droite: Ray Blue (ts), Doug Sides (dm),
Rob Henke (tp), Rasul Siddik (tp), Daoud-David Williams (perc), Sarah Morrow (tb),
Jardin d'acclimatation (concert Spirit of Jazz), Paris, avril 2009 © Jose M. Horna
Artiste militant, passionné, instinctif, Rasul
Siddik ne se préoccupait que de rester libre sans se soucier de faire carrière. Musicien de scène plus que de studio, il
enregistra assez peu: moins de trente albums en sideman et grava son premier disque en leader avec le Now! Artet, House
of Art (Philology) à 57 ans, en 2006 (qu’il mit trois ans à sortir). Rasul
était un fidèle –la longueur de ses collaborations et de ses amitiés en
témoigne–, répondant toujours présent pour une soirée en hommage à une musicien
disparu (comme celles à la mémoire de Nat Jones en septembre 2013 ou de Wayne Dockery en septembre 2018), toujours prêt à faire
le bœuf, avec une générosité sans réserve, même si ces dernières années les
ennuis de santé avaient obscurci son quotidien. Il avait enregistré en janvier
2020 à Varsovie, avec le ténor Borys Janczarski l’album live Contemplation (For Tune).
Rasul laisse derrière lui ses deux filles Asha et Dalila, sa sœur Coraminita, son neveu Ronnie Burrage et sa partenaire de trente ans Katy Roberts. Jazz Hot partage leur peine.
Bobby Few (p), Rasul Siddik (tp), Hal Singer (ts), Sunside, Paris, 2 décembre 2010 © Jérôme Partage
* «Dedication» est une composition de Rasul Siddik (album Contemplation, 2020, For Tune)
1. Le BAG a enregistré
un album: In Paris, Aries 1973 (Aguirre Records) avec Oliver Lake (reeds, fl, perc), Baikida Carroll (tp, flh,
perc), Floyd LeFlore (tp, voc, perc), Joseph Bowie (tb, perc), Charles Bobo
Shaw (dm, perc).
2. Rasul Siddik a écrit un thème à propos de cette fuite l'amenant à rebondir de ville en ville: «Hot Jumpin'».
3. «Rasul» signifie en arabe «messager» et «Siddik» «ami»: un nom (de scène) fort bien choisi...
4. Les Watts Towers ou
Nuestro Pueblo (Notre Peuple), situées dans le quartier de Watts à Los Angeles
(théâtre des émeutes d’août 1965), forment un ensemble de huit tours
sculpturales interconnectées conçues et construites entre 1921 et 1954 par Simon
Rodia (1879-1965), un immigrant italien qui a travaillé seul, sans outillage
spécialisé, avec des matériaux de récupération. Après sa mort, cette œuvre d’art
monumentale a été protégée par le Committee for Simon Rodia's Towers, un
organisme indépendant, jusqu'à ce qu’il passe sous la tutelle de la ville de Los
Angeles en 1975 qui a repris la gestion des tours en 1978. Elles figurent
aujourd’hui au registre des monuments historiques américains. Charles Mingus
(né en 1922) a grandi à l’ombre de ces tours qui l’ont inspiré, de même
qu’elles figurent sur les pochettes des albums d’Harold Land, Grooveyard (1958, Contemporary) et de Don Cherry, Brown
Rice (1975, Horizon).
5. Ce nom est bien sûr une référence à John Coltrane, disparu en 1967, premier coup de semonce pour l'Afro-Amérique avant l'assassinat de Martin Luther King l'année suivante, en pleine guerre du Vietnam.
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De gauche à droite: Chris Henderson, Bobby Few, Henry Grimes, John Betsch,
U. Aldridge Hansberry, Rasul Siddik, Espace z'Avant-garde, Paris, 2013 © Brigitte Verne, by courtesy
RASUL SIDDIK & JAZZ HOT:
n°599-2003 (interview, discographie)
n°649-2009 (chronique CD House of Art)
-- CODA --
Jeudi 2 février 2023, les amis de Rasul se sont retrouvés nombreux
au crématorium du Père-Lachaise pour un hommage spontané. Le batteur Benjamin
Sanz qui était proche du trompettiste et a pris en charge l’organisation de
ses obsèques, a ouvert la cérémonie en retraçant son parcours (texte à lire dans les hommages des musiciens). A l’issue, une
longue improvisation collective a notamment réuni autour du cercueil de Rasul:
Ricky Ford, Ricardo Izquierdo, Adrien Varachaud (ss), Harry Swift, Steve
McCraven et Benjamin Sanz. Saxophones et percussions ont formé une prière musicale d’une intense spiritualité. Puis,
Sylvia Howard a surmonté son émotion pour chanter un superbe gospel, de même
que Malaika Lacy (dont Rasul était le parrain), avec une force d’expression
impressionnante et soutenue par un chœur réparti dans la salle. Une magnifique
communion musicale et amicale à laquelle ont aussi participé, Kirk Lightsey, Peter
Giron, Dominique Lemerle, Jérôme Barde, Michel Zenino, Jerry Edwards, Laurent Marode, Simone
et Cyril Few (l’épouse et le fils de Bobby Few), entre autres. Une tristesse
supplémentaire fut l’absence pour maladie de Katy Roberts, la partenaire et la
compagne de Rasul pendant de longues années.
 Rasul Siddik (tp) et Katy Roberts (p), Toucy Jazz Festival, juillet 2014 © Mathieu Perez
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Soirée en hommage à Wayne Dockery: Ricardo Izquierdo (ts), Katy Roberts (tp), Rasul Siddik (tp),
Sunside, Paris, 30 septembre 2018 © Jérôme Partage
Rasul SIDDIK
L'hommage des musiciens
Témoignages recueillis par Mathieu Perez
Pheeroan AKLAFF (dm, perc)
I was fortunate enough to meet Rasul at a peak in his tactile and creative musical life. We shared many moments of toiling together and reflecting upon our feats; bolstering bandleaders as stalwart accompanists, from the 1980s to this early 21st Century. Our bond was heightened by the fact that we both came from environments stewed in consciousness-raising principles allowing us to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the African diasporic experience. This touch made for informed music with each note he would savor. It was often accompanied by a knowing smile and the touch of palpable love. One of my favorite reflections is our impromptu walk through the streets of Dakar, Senegal, during a surprising street parade that contrasted the usual banter of market bargaining techniques. So much was said by our un-knowing of what it all meant. So much was felt in the display of a missing restraint. It was like our relationship with music, just going on, and on, committed to fielding a new precipice every time we took to the stage. I will miss his generosity, his grumbling laugh, his St. Louis drawl, just an octave below my Detroit flat talk, his humor, and most of all his tolerance of a world full of much smaller hearts than his.
Ghasem BATAMUNTU (as, ss, perc, voc)
A ballad for now…
I first met Rasul in the 1970's when we were a part of an artist collective called A Love Supreme.
It was a collective of musicians and artist that included such notables as poets Will Alexander, K. Curtis Lyle, Kamau Daoud, musicians Arthur Blythe, Azar Lawrence and others from Horace Tapscott's Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, painters and artisans from the neighborhood of south-central Los Angeles. It was led by brothers Shams and Hamid Straughter, musicians from Tapscott's group, who created a business model that produced an array of incense fragrances in the back yard of the straighter brother’s grandmother, distributing to individual households and businesses thru out the city. We gathered twice a week to produce hundreds of packs of incense, exchange creative ideas, concepts, and information that would influence our developments later in our creative careers. Rasul was what I call a music/arts activist.
Rasul came to LA from Chicago and St. Louis in the late 1970's, where he was a member of the AACM and the St. Louis Black Artists Group and so, bringing with him the influence of legendary musicians including the likes of Lester Bowie, Julius Hemphill, Joseph Bowie, Henry Threadgill, and members of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, just to name a few. All legends and major influencers of black classical music, the avant-garde, great black music that would become the basis of free jazz developments thru out the 70's and 80's. During this period, he organized the West Coast contingent of his own group he called the Now! Artet, working as well with groups based at the Watts Towers art center, one of which went on to Lagos, Nigeria for the Festac '75 (Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture) celebration. Upon returning he moved to Oakland, California, to establish a northern California branch of A Love Supreme and continue the developments of the Now! Artet, performing in clubs and festivals in and around the Bay area. In the early 80's, I moved as well to Oakland, my birthplace, after having had lived and growing up in Los Angeles in the late 50's. Attending college in the late 60's in Hartford, Connecticut, I met Jackie McCean and frequented his community-based organization named the Artist Collective. There I developed musical skills that would prepare me to join Rasul's Now! Artet upon my arrival in Oakland. He let me say in his home with his family. The Now! Artet provided me with the opportunity to explore and develop further my compositional and improvisational concepts. Later in the 80's Rasul moved again, to New York, at which time I started my own musical ensemble I called the Nova Ghost Sect*Tet, working with multimedia artists and dance companies around the Bay area for which I received fellowships from the city of Oakland. I visited Rasul in New York performing with him on several occasions there. With ex Miles Davis and Nina Simone percussionist Juma Santos at Fashion Moda was one such occasion. Once again Rasul moved, this time to Paris. In 1992 I moved to Amsterdam and began a series of performances with Rasul in Paris, with my group in Amsterdam, and again joining Rasul for a small tour of Mali in places like Bamako and Serekunda, in the Gambia, performing and giving music workshops in villages around the countryside. In 1994 I recorded a CD in Amsterdam entitled Life on Uranus with my band the Nova Ghost Sect*Tet that included Rasul. later that ensemble performed at the North Sea Jazz festival, the Bimhuis, cafes and clubs in Holland. In Paris, with the Now! Artet, we recorded an independent production entitled Black Art. With Bobby Few's group we performed at the Bimhuis.
Rasul was a special individual, consistently pushing and moving music borders forward. His untimely departure leaves a void in many of our hearts as well as the music in which he was a pioneer. Rest in peace, revolve in perfection, my dear friend Rasul Siddik.
Kelvyn BELL (g, voc)
I first heard the name Rasul Siddik as a member of Charles Bobo Shaw’s Human Arts Ensemble. I had just moved to New York from St. Louis and wiggled my way into the band and completed my first ever European tour. Bobo informed me later that for the next tour I would be replaced by "The Bell”. This was Joe Bowie and Bobo’s nickname for Rasul. He was the uncle of Ronnie Burrage, my main running buddy upon my arrival to the city in 1978. A year or so later we got to meet and play together.
We hooked up in San Francisco in the early 80’s while I was there playing with The Arthur Blythe Quintet at Keystone Korner. We ended up doing a live set duo on a local radio station that was recorded. Rasul is one of the only trumpet players I know that had the kind of fire chops to play on the level of a Lester or Joe Bowie type. He had lips of steel that could create textures on the horn that would break most peoples' teeth. Very very few brass players take on the challenge to develop these types of chops and do it at a high level. Rasul could play toe to toe with any trumpeter in music, but I cannot say that there exist many that could go toe to toe with him. He developed the ability to play sounds, emotions and colors not included in traditional western music. Sounds that require years of practice and expertise.
We later toured together with Michele Rosewoman’s New Yoruba Orchestra with Howard Johnson, Bob Stewart, Baikida Carroll and John Stubblefield. I got to hear him work in a big band context soloing over chord changes and playing ensemble parts while maintaining his own personal identity.
Yo, we partied hard on that tour. He was a thousand tons of fun all day, all night. We traveled on a bus, and he was late every morning for departure time. Because we was homeboyz I was always the one to have to knock on his door and wake him up. At 7 am we would have a glass of wine and smoke another one before returning to the bus an hour later. But wasn’t nobody mad because we loved Rasul. Not only musically but in our living consciousness, Rasul would take everybody to an altered reality opposed to all we thought to be true. He always found a way to break every rule, set a new standard and we all loved it!!! We will forever love him and miss him.
Nathan BREEDLOVE (tp)
Rasul and I met in the late eighties in NYC at a rehearsal for the Mickey Bass big band. We became brothers at first sight. I remember one night at Bradley's when Kirk Lightsey was playing, he asked me and Rasul to sit in with him. We played a very creative version of Summertime.
When Rasul moved to Paris, I came over to visit many times and we were constant companions, playing and practicing together. In 2000 Rasul had surgery for a hernia, and he asked me to take his place with David Murray's band. I also took his place with James Lewis' band on a trip to Africa. Rasul and I were as close as any two brothers could be. Each trip I made to Paris, I would always bring him boxes of Jiffy mix to make cornbread. One night while on the train, someone stole Rasul's trumpet and I was able to give him one of mine, which warmed my heart.
I loved him very much and consider him to be one of my closest friends in life. I know many cats who feel the same way. Blessed journey, my dearest friend…
Ronnie BURRAGE (dm)
Rasul is my mother’s younger brother. He was ten years older than me. All my early development was listening to Woody Shaw, Miles and Freddie Hubbard, sitting next to Rasul. He went to school with John Hicks. John was a star growing up in St. Louis. Everybody knew about him. I probably met him when I was 9 or 10, that’s when he came back to St. Louis. Rasul took me to see him at a concert. He also drove me to Chicago to see Eddie Harris and Les McCann, Tony Williams Lifetime, with Larry Young. I will always be grateful to him for the music he shared with me when I was learning to play. I will miss him dearly.
Ernest DAWKINS (as)
Rasul is one of my early influences. He moved to Chicago from St. Louis with some members of the BAG (Black Artist Group), and they happened to move onto my block at 60th and Michigan Avenue. I was always interested in music, and they always played all night. One night a saxophone player came by named Guido Sinclair, who sounded just like Charlie Parker. After lying in my bed hearing him play, I had an epiphany and I said that’s me. The next day I went out and bought a saxophone. Within a week I had a clarinet and a flute.
At this time, I befriended Rasul and a couple of the guys from the BAG group. They gave me pointers in terms of learning scales and chords. By the end of the summer, I was enrolled at VanderCook College of Music, in Chicago. They also were instrumental in directing me towards the AACM.
Rasul and I developed a friendship that lasted for the rest of his life. I will always be indebted by his influence and encouragement. He is a great and gentle soul. He is an open and kind human and a champion of creative music.
Kahil EL’ZABAR (dm, perc)
Rasul Siddik is one of jazz's most underrated trumpet players. He possessed a very personal and original style on his instrument, which is extraordinarily difficult to accomplish. He mastered the various genres of Great Black Music, playing with greats over the years in R&B like Sly Johnson, Gene Chandler, Marshal and the Chi Lites, and Curtis Mayfield, Blues legends such as Lefty Dizz, Sugar Blue, and Albert King, bop masters like Sonny Stitt, Gene Ammons, and of course all of the modern and avant garde masters like Eddie Harris, Lester Bowie, Muhal Richard Abrams, Sun Ra, Henry Threadgill, David Murray, and myself.
I met Rasul Siddik in 1970, where we were both attending Malcom X Junior College in Chicago. He had moved to Chicago from his hometown in St Louis. He and I, along with Chico Freeman, George Lewis, and Douglas Ewart were the younger members of the AACM (Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians). We would all get together and practice our music for several hours each day. Rasul was a very dedicated player whom everyone liked and admired for his warmth and humility.
I gave him the trumpet he played for many years. He actually played in my band, the Ethnic Heritage Ensemble in the early years. He went on to play in Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy, David Murray's Octet and also Big Band, the Henry Threadgill Sextett, and the Sun Ra Arkestra. Musicians loved Rasul's playing and musicianship. He was the real deal, a learned player, very professional, and innovative technician on his instrument. Young musicians loved Mr. Siddik because he was so sharing and open-hearted with them. Rasul loved to share the music with others. He was a true champion of the light! He will be sincerely missed.
Eddie HENDERSON (tp, flh)
I have known Rasul since the early 1970s. He was a dear friend and wonderful musician. The loss of him leaves a big hole in the jazz musical community. Farewell my dear friend.
Frank LACY (tb)
I first met Rasul in 1986. I had just got the gig with Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy. We were on tour in Europe when one the trumpeters on the tour had gotten sick and had to go back to the US. All the guys in the band were telling Lester, "Get Rasul, get Rasul". So, Lester flew him to Europe from the West Coast (Bay Area). He met us on the train. We had a long talk, because we were both wearing dreadlocks. He was a health and homeopathic guy, talking about roots and herbs. The band nicknamed me Roots, and Rasul, Ropes, and the Statue of Negro-ty because his dreadlock were longer than mine. We toured and recorded about 2 or 3 records with Lester. While in the studio for the second record we did, Henry Threadgill was in the studio looking for a trombonist. Rasul suggested me to Henry, and Henry hired me to play in his Sextette, and we recorded 2 records with Henry on the RCA label. Rasul and I later recorded with The Julius Hemphill Big Band, The David Murray Big Band and the Hamiett Bluiett Teleopathic Orchestra. We became close friends; he was like my jazz big brother. Rasul was a relatively mild, unassuming guy, but deep in his Afrocentricity, and extremely knowledgeable about the Black Artists Group and the AACM (Association of the Advancement of Creative Music) as he was a member of both. He was also extremely knowledgeable of avant-garde new Black Music musical concepts, with he happily imparted to me. I lived with him for a short period in New York. We used to have every Sunday, a big fish fry; he loved fish, and we'd look at American football together before he moved to Paris. I moved to Paris for a short stint afterwards, where we really became closer. He became the godfather of my second child, Malaika Lacy. He was her second father. I would visit him a lot, joking, talking music, just being his little jazz brother. We also recorded with pianist Katy Roberts along with his nephew, drummer Ronnie Burrage. Rasul, while in Paris, also put back together his band The Now-Artet, where i REALLY saw his breath of artistry, along with him playing with the pianist Bobby Few. In September 2022, we played together on a great performance with the Ronnie Burrage Orchestra; that was the last time I saw him in person. He was still playing the trumpet on a very high level. In my mind and heart, my big brother Rasul Siddik will live in me perpetually, as he lives in me now through memory, which in its pristine form, is an electrical impulse in the brain. So, to me, and everyone else that carries a memory of him, he still exists. Farwell, brother Rasul, to that big performance in the afterlife, and we'll all be there with you, as don’t nobody gets out of this life alive!
Oliver LAKE (as)
Rasul Siddik was a "free spirit” and his playing and personality reflected that "free spirit”. I enjoyed and cherished the times we were together. He will be missed.
David MURRAY (ts, bcl)
Rasul Siddik began performing in the 80’s with my Octet and continued to add his personal touch to many of my various aggregations including The Gwo-Ka Masters of Guadeloupe and Big Band. His contribution to my music was enormous, adding a fierceness other trumpet could not equal. He was also my neighbor in Paris and became like an uncle to my kids there, even babysitting them when needed. His personality was always kind and generous. I only wish Paris was more kind to him. I will truly miss his musical genius and his inspiring personality. He was a pure angelic friend who will be missed by all. Rest in Peace brother Rasul.
Rudi MWONGOZI (p)
When I came back to the Bay Area in 1978 one of my immediate goals was to meet Idris Ackamoor. My pal and song writing partner in Portland Al Harris had turned me on to him when Al coped an album by "The Pyramids”. The Pyramids were Idris’ group and Al went nuts over them. When Al is enthusiastic about music his enthusiasm bubbles over.
So from hanging with Al and digging his record collection I became familiar with The Pyramids music. It turned out to be a good thing. One of the first things I wanted to do when I came back to the Bay Area was to connect with this cat Idris Ackamoor. Which I did. I jammed with him and he dug what I was doing on the keys. Next thing I know he is asking me to join The Pyramids. Which I did. Al would have been proud of me. In fact he was. When I joined the Pyramids the personel was Idris on reeds and all kinds of exotic percussion instruments, Heshima Mark Williams on bass and Idris employed different drummers. I remember one of them was a cat named Anthony Brown (who I now address as Dr. Anthony Brown and he calls me "Dr. Mwongozi”... but Anthony actually has a doctorate). Our paths would cross again in the 80s but at the time he was playing with Idris I remember my impression of his style as being a hybrid (or maybe an alchemy) of Tony Williams and Art Blakey.
So I’m playing with The Pyramids and with another young brother I met named Umlah Sadau who was a gifted tenor player. I had gotten a gig as the pianist/musical director in a play called "A Song In The Sky” by Joyce Carol Thomas. I was getting re-established/re-aquainted with the Bay Area. One afternoon I caught up with Idris in a shopping mall in North Oakland handing out flyers. There was a light skinned brother also handing out flyers and kicking it with Idris. Idris introduced me to him. Rasul Siddik. Rasul had been part of the Black Artist Group (BAG) in St. Louis and the A.A.C.M. in Chicago. He has gone on to achieve legendary status within the ranks of jazz aficionados. At the time he was a young ambitious and devoted "young lion” of avante garde jazz. He invited me to come hear his group "The Now! Artet” at a venue in South Berkeley called "Mpenzi”. Mpenzi was a place where you could hear quality first rate art music and jazz. Much of it was "the new thing” or "avante garde” or "creative” music. Well when I went to Mpenzi thinking I’m going to hear some cats play, I get there Rasul says "we don’t have no piano player tonight why don’t you sit in”... I’m like "are you freaking kidding me? Hell yeah I want to sit in”. The band had the legendary and unforgetable Augusta Lee Collins on drums. Japenese-American tenor sax icon Russell Baba and another trumpet player who’s name I unfortunately have forgotten...and that was it...no bass player. So I sat in and for the next five years whenever The Now! Artet did a hit I was the pianist. We played the Keystone Korner, we played the Great American Music Hall, we played the second San Francisco Jazz festival. But most of our gigs were not "prestiges”. We were certainly a group "of the people”.
Our two most important gigs became weekly ones. A place in South Berkeley called "The Scarab” where we held court on Thursdays. Pharoah Sanders use to come through unannounced and play whole sets with us. A cat we called "Snake Pit Eddie”, tenor player, who had his own gig at The Scarab, would sometimes stop by. Those were some epic nights in terms of "out music”. Our other most important gig was at a venue called "The Loft” (a place that during the day was a drug counceling center and where Rasul conducted a music workshop). Many epic nights there also. I’m sure it was much like the Lofts on "the loft scene” at the time in Manhattan. In New York. James Lewis was the bassist and John Baker was the drummer. Sabul Zawadi, whom Rasul had known and worked with in the A.A.C.M. was sometimes hitting with us on tenor sax. It was during this Scarab/Loft period the personnel of the group evolved into Rasul on trumpet, James Lewis of Philadelphia (who we called "Philadelphia Phats”) on bass, Ghasem Batamuntu on reeds (who we called "uncle Gus”), myself on piano and Butch Price (who everyone now calls "Spirit”). This was the permanent lineup. When Rasul brought Spirit into the group I was seriously doubtful about this decision. Because Spirit does not, and will not play traditional drum rhythms. He’s more like a horn player, playing the drums. Seriously he’s playing what the horns are playing, not what a "normal” drummer would be playing. It left holding the rhythm together to me and moreso to James. I was doubious. But you know what? It worked. The sound and Spirit’s approached totally worked in The Now! Artet.
When Ghasem came into the group it fully flowered. Ghasem became for Rasul what Wayne Shorter became for Miles Davis. The principal writer of the group and a complete co-voice within the group. At first most of our gigs were quartet with Rasul being the only front line player. Once Ghasem joined the group that became unthinkable. James Lewis had a strong presence not unlike Ron Carter. Spirit was like the outtest Tony Williams you ever heard on steroids. Ed Blackwell, Andrew Cyrille...they sound very inside compared to Spirit. I of course was always influenced by Herbie Hancock but at the time of my tenure with The Now! Artet I was also being very influenced by Cecil Taylor and not a little bit by Don Pullen. So that was our lineup and that was our group. A band which Bay Area poet and music critic Elaine Cohen called "functionally the tightest band in the bay area” in one of her reviews on us. But with some exceptions like Elaine most Bay Area critics and pundits did not show us Love. I put it down to the fact that we had African names and performed in African regalia and whether they admit it or not a lot of people feel a threat from that. I have to be real about it. The Bay Area is a very liberal place. I’m sorry to say but sometimes liberals can get away with more overt racism than openly prejudiced people. The jazz establishment wasn’t and isn’t totally comfortable with the idiom of jazz that Rasul Siddik and The Now! Artet represented. Or The Art Ensemble of Chicago or David Murray or any of the major artists of the idiom.
Michele ROSEWOMAN (p)
In the mid 70s when I formed my first Bay Area ensemble, I was writing and needed to manifest the music. I was seeking and needing adventurous musical explorers who were rooted in the jazz tradition but redefining and extending it at the same time. Don’t remember exactly how I met Rasul, but the Lunar Ensemble began its journey and me and Rasul began ours. Rasul was just speaking my language and I guess me, his. To be on the same wavelength as not too many others is something to treasure. He was a partner, a brother. All things were possible, and we explored everything. We colorized: SOUND was our palette. Our energies matched and we had an in-common spontaneity. Besides our main instruments (me on piano, he on trumpet), we added percussion instruments, whistles, text, I played musette. Rasul got sounds without mutes like he was using mutes. Along with saxophonist Leon Fernandez, the magic was all up in the music.
I don’t know quite how, but no doubt inevitable, that St. Louis connection has been a theme throughout my personal journey. Rasul and I met around the time I became next-door neighbors with Baikida Carroll (1975 /San Francisco), a founding member of BAG (Black Artists Group out of St. Louis). Through Baikida I met Julius Hemphill, Oliver Lake as well as many of the AACM musicians, they all stayed with Baikida. When I moved to NY in 1978, Baikida was already here, and Oliver Lake gave me my first serious New York gig. Some years later Rasul came to New York, and we picked up where we left off. We played in unique instrumentation settings, 2 tubas, 2 trumpets, piano, guitar and drums. Rasul’s nephew, drummer Ronnie Burrage and guitarist Kelvyn Bell came up from St. Louis and we all fell in together. In 1983 I formed my New Yor-Uba ensemble that included Rasul, Baikida, Oliver and Kelvyn (a whole lot of St. Louis in the house). Later, me and Greg Osby became partners in crime. This St. Louis continuum began for me with Rasul. There are no accidents.
Rasul was a sweet spirit, a genteel soul. I can hear his slow talk and see the smile in his eyes and on his lips. He radiated love and humor, most of the time. Sul had his challenges, his shadows, but there was a purity that always resurfaced and triumphed. We spoke a few times recently and in spite of his discomforts and very real concerns, his voice was soothing with familiarity. I felt our mutual appreciation for the years of friendship and artistic connection. I love him. May his Spirit soar.
Henry THREADGILL (as)
The thing I liked about Rasul was the unpredictability of him playing something creatively off kilter. I’m not exactly sure if Rasul played with me before coming into the sextett of which he played many wonderful concerts, and on a number of recordings. Here’s a funny story I recall — the sextett was playing in Bermuda and Frank Lacy was relaxing on the beach, so Rasul decided to join him. He fell off to sleep with his face down on the sand and at the end of the day when he woke up exactly half of his face from forehead to chin was completely sunburnt. We were leaving the next day, but he decided to stay behind, so he could go back and lay in the sand and try to even out the other half of his face. Well guess what when he got to New York there was a line down the middle of his face and the sunburn was different on each side of his face. We had good times, and we always shared a sense of the same kind of humor. He will be missed.
Benjamin SANZ (dm)
Eulogy for Rasul: texte lu par Benjamin Sanz en ouverture des obsèques de Rasul Siddik le 2 février 2023
We are here to honor and celebrate our dear friend Rasul.
Rasul who was a very unique and special individual.
Jan Corlus Mahr, or Rasul Siddik, as he decided to re-name himself when he got interested in the Black Muslims movement in his twenties, was a true music and art activist, a relentless searcher, a free spirit, and a unique, a very generous human being.
Of course we know Rasul as the trumpet player, wich sound and tones would move us deeply, as it revealed his own truth, sweet and powerful personality to us.
From St Louis, Missouri, where he was born in 1949 and started to play with the Black Artist Ensemble with drummer Bobo Shaw and Joseph Bowie.
To Chicago, where he became a member of the Association for Advancement of Creative Musicians, along with Julius Hemphill, Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton and the members of the Art Ensemble. In chicago Rasul also played with the early Eath Wind and Fire Band, that would later hit the number 1 place in the charts.
To Los Angeles in the late 70's with another artists collective, called «A Love Supreme» –including poets, such as Will Alexander, Kamau Daoud, musicians Arthur Blythe, the Horace Tapscott Pan Afrikan Orchestra, the fantastics drummer Sonship Theus and saxophonist Ghasim Batamuntu.
To Oakland California, in the early 80's, where Rasul moved to play with Idriss Ackamoor, Carlton Hester big band. There met his wife, a very gifted singer called Diane Witherspoon, the mother of his two daughter Asha and Dalila. There a runned a community center called The Loft and did the west coast version of his own band that he had started in Chicago, the Now Artet.
After he moved to New York to play with Miles Davis percussionist Juma Santos, David Murray, Craig Harris, Lawrence Butch Morris, Sabir Mateen, Pharoah Sanders and so many others, from the loft era in New York. Then Oakland again, then New York again, then Paris, the place where he stayed for 30 years, spreading his art through the community and the rest of the world.
Now let’s take a minute and ask ourselves, why did Rasul kept moving from different cities in the United States, meeting and playing with all these legends and major influencers of black american contemporary music, avant garde, that would become the basis of development of great black music and free jazz thru out the 70's and 80's?
For sure, he was on his quest for musical and spiritual informations with his peers, but he was also escaping the draft to the war, as the government was actively searching for black people to send to Viet Nam. He wrote a tune about that, Hop Jumpin’. So he kept jumping from city to city, as an outlaw, refusing to participate the slaughtering of his people and other people. Rasul was a pacifist, a devoted true activist for music and art.
And basically we can’t develop art and kill people at the same time, right?
Rasul kept denouncing the fact that America and Europe still do not understand that. This makes you angry, cry and laugh at the same damn time and this is how Rasul lived his life and the music from the start until the end.
Rasul went to so many different places on the five continents, he met and played with so many people, it would take days to tell the names…
I had the chance to play with Rasul and be around people that he was bringing around himself in Paris: Sunny Murray and David Murray, Archie Sheep, Bobby Few, Steve Mac Craven, Eddie Allen, Ricky Ford, just to name a few.
I had the chance to learn from Rasul while he was playing in my own band. This was a life changing experience. We liked to play in special places, like artists workshops, artistic squats and venues where it was possible for us to experiment, express ourselves the way we wanted. It seems to me that this is the direction Rasul kept all his life, sharing with the people, I mean everybody, very sensitive musical and spiritual informations, from city to city, from place to place.
We express to his two Daughters Asha and Dalila, his sister Coraminita, Ronnie his nephew and all his family in Saint Louis and beyond, our deepest condolences. Katy Roberts, our wonderful friend and pianist who shared Rasul’s life for thirty years, we give you our deepest condolences, and we want to tell you Katy that we love you and we are with you.
We will miss you so bad dear brother.
We wish you a peaceful cosmic transition and we send you lots of love and light, notes and tones.
Let him hear us now…
Salim WASHINGTON (ts)
I loved Rasul and I loved the way he was. Some people try to be cool, but some people just are. He was the most meticulous person with his musicianship and with his trumpet craft. Never skimped on being prepared. And he had a language, a sound that was uniquely his, what we all strive for. More than that, he was a beautiful cat, very social, like a favorite uncle or dear brother.
I first met Rasul in the 90s in Paris. I was doing an engagement with pianist Katy Roberts. In those days we did a lot of playing together and we did about 4 recordings together. Some live in Paris, Washington DC, Boston, etc., and some studio recordings as well.
He was interesting to be on the road with. I was impressed how at each soundcheck he first did an extensive and well-choreographed warm up. You know how trumpeters are vulnerable to the vagaries of time, but Rasul was like Dizzy Gillespie, leaving nothing to chance. He could whip the sound guys into shape as well. He would point his trumpet at the mic and then play the same thing off mic, explaining how they should both sound the same.
He was funny too, no matter what you might need on the road he had it in his bag. Speakers, recorders, all the amenities. I used to joke with him that he probably had a car jack in his bag in case of a flat tire. Every city we went to he would take out his black book and make calls and connections with family and friends, speaking to all and sundry warmly and soulfully.
Another thing: Rasul could burn! You were fortunate if you got him to cook for you, and he loved to do it. Bienvenu chez Siddik. Then he would serve us all with a gourmet meal (I particularly enjoyed his conch soup) coupled, of course, with choice wine. He did love his wine and always waited until after the gig while we were listening to the tapes or whatever. He was a late night denizen, and he knew how to hang.
I loved his creativity on the trumpet, how deliberate if unconventional he could be at times. I loved his tone and the way he sometimes added his own vibrato to end his notes. He was a man of peace who knew how to laugh. He was a good brother.
James ZOLLAR (tp)
Rasul and I became fast friends as soon as I moved to NY in 1985, we met at the late-night Ted Curson jam session at the Blue Note jazz club in Greenwich Village. He being from St. Louis, Mo. Me being from Kansas City, Mo. We became kindred spirits. It turned out we lived very close to each other in the Bronx. At that time Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy was in full swing, Rasul suggested I sub for him in the band. We were section mates in the David Murray Big Band. Rasul was also playing with Henry Threadgill around that time.
And he was my trumpet practice buddy since we lived so close to each other. Sunny Murray & Kahn Jamal’s Change of the Century Orchestra was another project we were section mates.
I had a long talk with Archie Shepp in the mid 90s, he said Rasul was one of his favorite trumpet players. He had his own approach for self-expression on the trumpet tip. When he left the States for Paris, I missed him from day one. May Rasul Siddik live on in the world of self-expression. RIP Mr. Rasul Siddik.
Soirée en hommage à Bobby Few: Rasul Siddik (tp), Harry Swift (b), Sunside, Paris, 22 février 2022 © Mathieu Perez
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DISCOGRAPHIE
CD 1999. Euroquartet,
Dedication, Phililogy W 193.2
CD 2006. Rasul Siddik and The Now! Artet, House of Art,
Phililogy W 434.2
CD 2020. Janczarski & Siddik 4tet, Contemplation, For
Tune 0147092
Leader/coleaderLP 1979. Joseph Bowie/Luther Thomas/St. Louis Creative
Ensemble, I Can’t Figure Out, Moers Music 01052
LP 1982. Karlton
Hester and The Contemporary Jazz Art Movement, Hesterian Musicism, Hesteria Records
00002
LP 1982. Sadaka,
Premonition, Creatic Records 001 (=CD Jazzman 077)
LP 1984. Henry
Threadgill Sextet, Subject to Change, About Time 1007
LP 1986. Oliver Lake,
Gallery, Gramavision 1-8609-1
CD 1986. Lester Bowie Brass Fantasy, Avant Pop, ECM 1326
CD 1986. Henry Threadgill, You Know the Number, Novus 3013-2-N
CD 1987. Lester Bowie's Brass Fantasy, Twilight Dreams,
Venture 2
CD 1987. David Murray, Hope Scope, Black Saint 120139-2
CD 1986. Henry Threadgill, Easily Slip Into Another World,
Novus 3025-2-N
CD 1988. Julius Hemphill Big Band, Elektra Musician
9-68031-2
CD 1990. Rod Williams, Destiny Express, Muse 5412
CD 1991. David Murray Big Band Conducted by Lawrence
"Butch" Morris, DIW-851
CD 1992. David Murray Big Band, South of the Border, DIW-897
CD 1992. David Murray Octet, Picasso, DIW-879
CD 1995. Christian Brazier, Pérégrinations, Bleu Regard CT
1953 (avec Sunny Murray)
CD 1996. Ralph Thomas, Fire Beat, Axile 00291
CD 1998. Nova Ghost Sect*Tet, Life on Uranus, A-Records 73109 (avec Ghasem
Batamuntu)
CD 1999. David Murray, Octet Plays Trane, Enja 9406-2
CD 2000. Fred Clayton & The IRC, Changing Up the Pace!
Not Just Blue, FC-IRC 050701-2
CD 2002. Bobby Few, Let It Rain, autoproduit BF 01
CD 2003-05. Katy Roberts Quintet, Live at Twins and More,
autoproduit
CD 2005. Laurent Marode Sextet, I Mean, autoproduit CD 2009. Adrien Varachaud Unity 5tet, Strange Horns, autoproduit AV001
CD 2010. Benjamin Sanz Quintet, Mutation majeure,
Archie Ball 1101
CD 2010. Hal Singer featuring David Murray, Challenge, Marge 47 CD 2016. Janczarski & McCraven Quintet, Liberator, For
Tune 0132085 |
VIDEOGRAPHIE
Rasul Siddik, 12 on 14 Jazz Club, Varsovie, Pologne, 24 janvier 2020, image extraite de YouTube
1979. Rasul Siddik, St. Louis Creative Ensemble: Joseph Bowie (tb), Luther Thomas (as), Darrell Mixon (b), Charles Bobo Shaw (dm), I Can’t Figure Out, Moers Music, Studio Palm, Paris, 3 mars
1986. Rasul Siddik, Henry Threadgill (as, ts, fl, cl), Frank Lacy (tb), Fred Hopkins (b), Diedre Murray (cello), Pheeroan Aklaff, Reggie Nicholson (perc), Easily Slip Into Another World,
Novus, Mediasound Studio, New York, NY, 20-21 septembre
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_meo2anKYOAdYm0oaf0tEtKLo6QcgaDxDY
1987. Rasul Siddik, Lester Bowie (tp) Brass Fantasy: Stanton Davis, Malachi Thompson (tp), Joe Bowie, Frank Lacy (tb), Vincent Chancey (frh), Steve Kirby (b), Phillip Wilson (dm), Blues Alley, Washington, DC, 31 mars
1991. Rasul Siddik, David Murray (ts) Big Band Conducted by Lawrence
"Butch" Morris, DIW, Clinton Recording Studios, Newy York, NY, 5-6 mars
2002. Rasul Siddik, Bobby Few (p,voc), Jon Handelsman (ts), Harry Swift/Raymond Doumbe (b), Bob Demeo/Jean-Claude Montredon/Noël McGhie (dm), album Let It Rain (autoproduit Bobby Few), Studio Cargo, Montreuil (93), France, janvier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDQuQadC2cY
2007. Rasul Siddik, Archie Shepp (ts) Quintet: Tom McClung (p), Jack Gregg (b), John Betsch (dm), Rchard Bréchet (dir), Galerie de Berlinval, Morsain, Aisne, 10 novembre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPq-l93RyRw
2008. Rasul Siddik, Bobby Few (p,voc), Harry Swift (b), Benjamin Sanz (dm), «Orange Was the Color of her Dress», «Let it Rain», The Danger of Jazz in Art, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, 12 mars
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLVv5_nfb5c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=347GwA5Id3s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hPF9QBbnTk
2009. Rasul Siddick, 90e anniversaire d'Hal Singer: Steve Potts, Kirk Lightsey, Bobby Few, Darryl Hall, Théâtre du Chaudron, Paris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2e5LolNpdM
2010. Rasul Siddik (tp), Hal Singer Featuring David Murray, Lafayette Gilchrist (p), Jaribu Shahid (b), Hamid Drake (dm), Challenge, 9-10 avril, Studio EGP Paris, Futura Marge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGSpI9mz56c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73TGxM496Wo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsoWRDukvrs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qf_MeSzQbg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4SM5dn1LQQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRHURXos8Po
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqR3XGCmaJ8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bvevi7nq0k
2011. Rasul Siddik, Steve Potts Quintet + Sylvia Howard (concert intégral), Ateliers du Chaudron, Paris, 18 décembre
Sylvia Howard (voc), Steve Potts (ts), Tom McClung (p), Peter Giron (b), John Betsch (dm)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-EulBq8oL4
2011. Rasul Siddik, Katy Roberts (p) Quintet: Boris Blanchet (ts), Dominique Lemerle (b), Ichiro Onoe (dm), «Waltz for Woody», Salle Mère Marie Pia, Quincy-sous-Senart, 9 décembre
2011. Rasul Siddik, Bobby Few (p) Henry Grimes (vln), Raymond Doumbe (b), Chris Henderson (dm), Babel Café, Paris
2012. Rasul Siddik, Hamiet Bluiett (bar), Katy Roberts (p), Raymond Eldridge (b), Tayammun Falah (dm), NuArtMetroGallery, St. Louis, MO
2013. Rasul Siddik, Aldridge Hansberry (dm), Jobic Le Masson (p), Bab-Ilo, Paris, 26 janvier
2020. Rasul Siddik, Borys Janczarski (ts), Michał Jaros (b), Kazimierz Jonkisz (dm), «United», 12 on 14 Jazz Club,
Varsovie, Pologne, 24 janvier
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