Don Alias

Don Alias
Don Alias
Birth name	Charles Alias
Born	December 25, 1939; New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	March 28, 2006 (aged 66); New York, New York, U.S.
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Drums, conga drums, percussion, bongos, djembe, udu, shaker, finger cymbals, tambourine, bells, cabasa, claves, palitos, African drums, batá drum, cowbell, marimba, cymbals, timbales, dumbek, timpani, quinto, shekere, snare drum, African percussion, kalimba, mark tree, jam block
Years active	1960s–2006
Website	Official website

Charles "Don" Alias^[1] (December 25, 1939 – March 28, 2006)^[2] was an American jazz percussionist.

Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums. He was, however, a capable drum kit performer: for example, Alias played drums on the song "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down" from trumpeter Miles Davis's album Bitches Brew (1969) when neither Lenny White nor Jack DeJohnette was able to play the marching band-inspired rhythm requested by Davis.^[3]

Alias performed on hundreds of recordings and was perhaps best known for his associations with Miles Davis and saxophonist David Sanborn, though he also performed or recorded with Weather Report, singer Joni Mitchell, pianist Herbie Hancock, the Brecker Brothers, Jaco Pastorius, Pat Metheny, Nina Simone and many others. Alias was born in New York City and arrived in Boston in the early 1960s intending to study medicine, but after playing congas in a number of local bands, made an abrupt career switch.

^ surname pronounced ah-LIE-ahs
^ Chinen, Nate (April 5, 2006). "Don Alias, 66, Percussionist and Sideman, Is Dead (Published 2006)". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2023.
^ see the notes for The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (1998)

[1] surname pronounced ah-LIE-ahs

[2] Chinen, Nate (April 5, 2006). "Don Alias, 66, Percussionist and Sideman, Is Dead (Published 2006)". The New York Times. Retrieved August 7, 2023.

[3] see the notes for The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions (1998)

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