Milford Graves facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Milford Graves

Background information
Born	(1941-08-20)August 20, 1941 Jamaica, Queens, New York, U.S.
Died	February 12, 2021(2021-02-12) (aged 79)
Genres	Jazz free jazz avant-garde jazz world music
Instruments	Drums timbales conga drums vocals
Years active	1962-2021
Labels	ESP Prestige Fontana RCA Tzadik
Associated acts	Albert Ayler New York Art Quartet Paul Bley Don Pullen

Milford Graves (born August 20, 1941 – died February 12, 2021) was an American jazz drummer and percussionist. He was also a professor of music, a researcher, an artist, a gardener, an herbalist, and a martial artist.

Graves was famous for his early work in avant-garde jazz in the 1960s. He played with musicians like Paul Bley and Albert Ayler. He is known as a pioneer of free jazz, which is a style of jazz where musicians can play more freely. He helped change how drums were used, moving them beyond just keeping time. The composer John Zorn called Graves a "20th-century shaman," meaning he had a very unique and powerful way of making music.

Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Developing His Unique Style
Later Career and Collaborations
Illness and Death
Awards and Recognition
Musical Style and Innovations
Other Interests and Research
Discography
- As leader
- As sideman or co-leader
Filmography
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Musical Beginnings

Milford Graves was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. This was on August 20, 1941. He started playing drums when he was only three years old. By age eight, he learned to play the congas. He also studied timbales and African hand drumming.

In the early 1960s, he led dance bands. He also played in Latin and Afro-Cuban groups in New York. He performed alongside famous musicians like Cal Tjader and Herbie Mann. His own group, the Milford Graves Latino Quintet, included the well-known pianist Chick Corea.

Developing His Unique Style

In 1962, Graves heard the John Coltrane quartet. The drumming of Elvin Jones deeply impressed him. The next year, Graves got a standard drum set. He started using it regularly in his music.

In 1964, Graves joined The New York Art Quartet. Other musicians were amazed by his playing. They said his drumming was like an "anti-gravity vortex." This meant it felt like you could float or fly when he played. One band member said Graves "baffled" them. He had a strong sense of rhythm and intensity.

That same year, Graves took part in the "October Revolution in Jazz." This was an important event for new jazz music. He also recorded several albums. These included the New York Art Quartet's first album. He also played on Paul Bley's Barrage. Graves even played briefly with Albert Ayler's band. His unique style inspired John Coltrane to add a second drummer to his own group.

Later Career and Collaborations

In 1965, Graves continued to explore new sounds. He studied the tabla, an Indian drum. He also recorded with the famous singer Miriam Makeba. He released his own percussion album, Percussion Ensemble. One writer called it "the most brilliantly conceived percussion album."

Graves joined Albert Ayler's band in 1967. They performed at important events. This included John Coltrane's funeral. Graves left Ayler's band when it started to become more commercial.

In the late 1960s, Graves played with other drummers. They did a series of concerts called "Dialogue of the Drums." Graves also studied to become a medical technician. He managed a lab for a veterinarian. In 1973, he began teaching at Bennington College. He taught there until 2012.

Later in his career, Graves toured and recorded with many artists. He played with drummers like Andrew Cyrille and Famoudou Don Moye. He also recorded solo albums, such as Grand Unification (1998). He collaborated with John Zorn and Lou Reed.

In 2018, a documentary about him was released. It was called Milford Graves Full Mantis. Another film about him, Ancient to Future: The Wisdom of Milford Graves, was directed by Alice in Chains singer William DuVall.

Illness and Death

In 2018, Milford Graves was diagnosed with a heart condition. It was called amyloid cardiomyopathy. Doctors told him he had about six months to live. He passed away on February 12, 2021. He was 79 years old. He had suffered from heart failure.

Awards and Recognition

Milford Graves received several important honors. In 2000, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. This is a special award for people who have made great achievements in arts or sciences. In 2015, he received a Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. This award recognizes artists who have made a big impact.

Musical Style and Innovations

Milford Graves was one of the first jazz drummers to change the role of the drums. Before him, drums mostly just kept time. Graves, along with others, made the drums a lead instrument. He developed a way of playing that went beyond simple rhythms.

He had an amazing drumming technique. Graves moved around his drum set very quickly. He hit every part of the drums with speed and clarity. He used his cymbals in unique ways, almost like gongs. He also tuned his tom-toms very loosely, making a deeper sound. He was one of the first drummers to remove the bottom heads of his drums. This was to make the sound clearer.

Graves often held his drumsticks by the tip. He could even hold two sticks in one hand. Sometimes he used a large mallet or maracas at the same time as a drumstick. This created a very intense and layered sound. He even placed small bongoes on his tom-toms to play them.

Graves believed that drummers focused too much on rhythm. He thought they should pay more attention to the actual sound. He said it was important to study the drum skin itself. This way, drummers could make different sounds by playing on every part of the skin. He felt that true rhythm is not like a metronome. It is always changing, just like our breath and heartbeat.

He strongly believed drummers should not just stay in the background. He felt the drum should be at the forefront, like in African drumming. He wanted drummers to be seen as equal musicians, not just timekeepers.

Other Interests and Research

Milford Graves had many interests outside of music. He was known as a thinker in martial arts, natural healing, and biology. He liked to explore new and unknown areas. He combined art and science, and traditional healing with modern research.

One of his unique interests was "Yara." This was a martial art he invented in the 1970s. Yara was based on the movements of the Praying Mantis, African ritual dance, and Lindy Hop. Graves said Yara means "nimbleness" in the Yoruba language. He taught Yara at his home for over 30 years. He believed that the movements of Yara could be used in his drumming. He would "sing on people" when he sparred, putting them to sleep with his movements and sounds.

Graves also connected his martial arts to healing. He was an herbalist and acupuncturist. He used his "global garden" to grow plants for remedies and healthy food. He became interested in healthy living after having health problems as a teenager. He changed his diet and started listening to "the plants."

In the 1970s, Graves became fascinated by the human heartbeat. He believed it was a main source of rhythm. He found that heart rhythms were similar to Afro-Cuban drumming. He bought equipment to record and analyze heartbeats. He studied his own heartbeat and those of others.

He used special software to turn heartbeats into sound. He called this "heart music." He found that playing these sounds back to a person could increase blood flow. It might even help cells grow. His research led to medical studies. One study showed that heart music could help stem cells become heart cells. He even got a patent for his work. A doctor from Harvard Medical School called Graves a "Renaissance man." This means he was skilled in many different areas.

Graves also painted artwork for his albums. He later created sculptures. These sculptures connected his interests in music and martial arts. He wanted his sculptures to have movement, like "frozen music." He used his knowledge of music and martial arts to create them. His exhibits often showed the connection between music, the body, and healing.

Discography

As leader

1965: Percussion Ensemble (ESP) with Sunny Morgan
1977: Bäbi (IPS) with Arthur Doyle, Hugh Glover
1977: Meditation Among Us (Kitty) with Kaoru Abe, Toshinori Kondo, Mototeru Takagi, and Toshiyuki Tsuchitori
1998: Grand Unification (Tzadik)
2000: Stories (Tzadik)