Edward Blackwell

Jazz musician

• Born: October 10, 1929
• Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana
• Died: October 7, 1992
• Place of death: Hartford, Connecticut

Blackwell was one of the premier jazz drummers of the second half of the twentieth century, best known for his extended partnership with saxophonist Ornette Coleman. He balanced the experimental jazz movement of the 1960’s with a refined, multilayered approach that combined elements of swing, bebop, rhythm and blues, and African rhythms.

Early Life

Edward Joseph Blackwell was born in the Garden District in New Orleans, Louisiana, on October 10, 1929. Inevitably surrounded by the rhythms that birthed the jazz tradition, Blackwell was quickly drawn to the drums, whether first hearing them on records or in the streets during the renowned “second line” funeral processions.

Two of Blackwell’s early musical influences were Wilbert Hogan and Paul Barbarin. Hogan, who played with Ray Charles later in his career, was just a few years older than Blackwell but knew all of the basic techniques and taught them to Blackwell so he could join his school band. Barbarin, a professional drummer from the previous generation who played with jazz legends Louis Armstrong and King Oliver, mentored Blackwell, allowing him to sneak into the segregated clubs to watch him perform.

Blackwell began his professional career in 1949, when he was recommended for a gig with a local rhythm-and-blues group, the Johnson brothers.

Life’s Work

Blackwell moved to Los Angeles in 1951 and performed with fellow New Orleans musicians Harold Batiste and Ellis Marsalis, Jr. He also jammed with West Coast jazz musicians while in California, quickly becoming good friends with innovative saxophonist Ornette Coleman. The two played music together and even became roommates for a short time, until Blackwell moved back to New Orleans in 1955 or 1956.

Once settled back in Louisiana, Blackwell performed and recorded with the Original American Jazz Quintet, a group consisting of his longtime rhythm-and-blues/jazz collaborators Marsalis, Alvin Batiste, Harold Batiste, and Chuck Badie. Blackwell’s rhythm-and-blues career reached its apex when he was called to tour with Charles in 1957.

Blackwell moved to were chosen in 1960 and transitioned directly into the post-bebop jazz scene that balanced straight-ahead swing with intense avant-garde/free jazz explorations. He reconnected with Coleman, who had become one of the leaders of the free jazz scene in New York City, and quickly joined his pianoless quartet.

Coleman’s quartet, which included Blackwell, trumpeter Don Cherry, and bassist Charlie Haden, released many revered albums throughout the early to mid-1960’s, including This Is Our Music (1960), Free Jazz (1960), The Art of the Improvisers (1961), Twins (1961), and Ornette on Tenor (1961). Through these recordings, Blackwell solidified his musical reputation as a highly active, melodic drummer who spurred on his fellow musicians in interactive, multilayered dialogue without ever overpowering them.

Throughout his tenure in the Ornette Coleman Quartet, Blackwell also performed and recorded with other post-bebop jazz artists, including saxophonist John Coltrane, saxophonist Eric Dolphy, and trumpeter Booker Little. Blackwell’s trip to Africa with pianist Randy Weston in 1967 sparked a lifelong interest in African drumming and rhythm that he increasingly incorporated into his jazz drum-set work.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, Blackwell appeared on three more Ornette Coleman records—Science Fiction (1971), Skies of America (1972), and Broken Shadows (1982)—that featured the core quartet supplemented by additional musicians. As work with Coleman eventually faded, Blackwell performed on solo recordings made by Cherry and tenor saxophonist Dewey Redman, one of the musicians added to the later Coleman recordings. Blackwell, Cherry, Haden, and Redman soon formed Old and New Dreams, a group that occasionally toured and recorded together over the next several years.

As the 1970’s progressed, Blackwell’s touring and recording schedule slowed for multiple reasons. In 1975, the drummer moved from New York to Connecticut to take a position as an artist-in-residence at Wesleyan University, a responsibility he held until this end of his life. Blackwell also had begun undergoing dialysis for kidney disease that kept the drummer increasingly stationary in his later years.

Blackwell’s playing and occasional performances did not cease completely, however. In the late 1970’s and 1980’s, Blackwell recorded with Jane Ira Bloom, David Murray, Mal Waldron, and Joe Lovano and reunited with Cherry and Haden at the 1989 Montreal Jazz Festival. In 1992, Blackwell released four recordings as a leader, a rarity for the career sideman. Walls-Bridges, The Ed Blackwell Project, What It Is? and What It Be Like? were all met with critical praise, heightened by their emotional significance as Blackwell’s final recordings.

After a long battle with kidney disease, Blackwell died of renal failure on October 7, 1992, at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut. He was survived by his wife, Francis, and their three children.

Significance

Blackwell’s style—creating multiple rhythmic layers at a quiet volume and waiting for the perfect time to jump out and interact with a bandmate—has become one of the dominant approaches to modern jazz drumming. This style stems from a combination of many different forms of African American music, from New Orleans Dixieland, and swing styles to rhythm and blues to the African rhythms he keenly studied. Blackwell’s jazz drumming style is a summation of the influential rhythmic invention in African American music of the twentieth century.

Bibliography

Fish, Scott. “Ed Blackwell: Singin’ on the Set.” Modern Drummer 5, no. 8 (November, 1981). Interview with Blackwell about his musical influences, collaborations, and drumming philosophies.

Jenkins, Todd S. Free Jazz and Free Improvisation: An Encyclopedia. 2 vols. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004. Includes a biographical sketch of Blackwell and discussion of his musical style and influences. Blackwell also is discussed frequently in entries on his collaborators, such as Ornette Coleman, and key recordings with which he was involved.

Schmalenberger, David J. “Ed Blackwell’s African Influences.” Percussive Notes 45, no. 4 (January, 1997). Detailed examination of Blackwell’s incorporation of African elements into his jazz drumming.

Spellman, A. B. “Ornette Coleman.” In Four Jazz Lives. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2004. Section on Coleman contains informative discussion of his collaborations with Blackwell.

Thress, Dan. “Edward Blackwell.” In New Orleans Jazz and Second Line Drumming. Van Nuys, Calif.: Alfred, 1996. A brief chapter focusing on Blackwell’s New Orleans roots and the formation of his drumming style. Includes selected discography.