Milford Graves (August 20, 1941 – February 12, 2021) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, Professor Emeritus of Music, researcher/inventor, visual artist/sculptor, gardener/herbalist, and martial artist. Graves was noteworthy for his early avant-garde contributions in the 1960s with Paul Bley, Albert Ayler, and the New York Art Quartet, and is considered to be a free jazz pioneer, liberating percussion from its timekeeping role. The composer and saxophonist John Zorn referred to Graves as "basically a 20th-century shaman."
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Albert Ayler
American jazz saxophonist
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Donald Ayler
American musician
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Sunny Murray
American drummer
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Lewis Worrell
American musician
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Muhammad Ali
free jazz drummer
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Arthur Doyle
American musician
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Rashied Ali
American jazz musician
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John Coltrane
American jazz saxophonist
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Roswell Rudd
American trombonist
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Cecil Taylor
American jazz pianist and poet
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Frank Wright
American jazz musician
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Andrew Cyrille
American avant-garde jazz drummer
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Ornette Coleman
American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer
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Charles Tyler
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Ronald Shannon Jackson
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Bobby Few
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Don Cherry
American jazz trumpeter
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Lowell Davidson
American musician
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Ronnie Boykins
American musician
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Jamie Muir
British musician
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John Densmore
American drummer and songwriter
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Max Roach
American jazz percussionist, drummer, and composer
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Dave Burrell
American musician
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Elvin Jones
American jazz drummer
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McCoy Tyner
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Don Pullen
American jazz pianist and organist
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Jack DeJohnette
American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer
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Gary Peacock
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William Parker
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Old and New Dreams
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John Scofield
American jazz guitarist and composer
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Pharoah Sanders
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Abbey Rader
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Buddy Rich
American jazz drummer and bandleader
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Billy Cobham
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Joe Morello
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Bob Moses
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Marilyn Crispell
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John McLaughlin
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Antonio Sánchez
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Jon Irabagon
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Giuseppi Logan
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Wadada Leo Smith
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Gene Krupa
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Chick Corea
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Ray Brown
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Charles Lloyd
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Connie Kay
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Chris Kelsey
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Stanley Clarke
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Gary Husband
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Marc Edwards
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John Hicks
American jazz pianist and composer
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Stafford James
American musician
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Sam Rivers
American jazz musician and composer
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Sonny Rollins
American jazz saxophonist and composer
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Miguel Zenón
Puerto Rican alto saxophonist