Barry Altschul
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Barry Altschul (b. January 6, 1943, New York City) is a drummer who gained fame in the late 60's with the pianists Paul Bley and Chick Corea, playing in the "outside" style of jazz that had been evolving steadily since the innovations of Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane. His first major gig in the late sixties was with Paul Bley's trio. In 1969 he joined with Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Anthony Braxton to form the group Circle. At the time, he made use of a high-pitched Gretsch kit with add-on drums and percussion instruments, which he integrated seamlessly in a whirlwind of sound. No one sounded quite like him at the time, and his nuclear energy served him well when he teamed up with Sam Rivers and Anthony Braxton throughout the seventies. Altschul also made a few excellent albums as a leader, but after the mid-1980s he was rarely seen in concert or on record. Recently he has become a little more visible again, with two fine sideman appearances on the CIMP label with the FAB trio (with Billy Bang and Joe Fonda) and the bassist Adam Lane.
Through the years Altschul has played or recorded with Roswell Rudd, Dave Liebman, Andrew Hill, Sonny Criss, Hampton Hawes, and Lee Konitz, among others.
