Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey, in addition to Alice Coltrane, Mal Waldron, Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Trio Three (with Oliver Lake and Andrew Cyrille), Trio Transition, the Reggie Workman Ensemble, and collaborative projects with dance, poetry and drama.
Career
Early in his career, Workman worked in jazz groups led by
Freddie Cole,
Gigi Gryce,
Donald Byrd,
Duke Jordan and
Booker Little. In 1961, Workman joined the
John Coltrane Quartet,
replacing Steve Davis. He was present for the saxophonist's
Live at the Village Vanguard sessions, and also recorded with a second bassist (Art Davis) on the 1961 album,
Olé Coltrane. Workman left Coltrane's group at the end of the year, following a European tour and recording
Africa Brass.
In 1962, Workman joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (replacing long-time Blakey bassist Jymie Merritt), and worked alongside Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, and Cedar Walton for most of his time. Workman left Blakey's group in 1964.
Workman also played with Freddie Cole, Lee Morgan, James Moody, Yusef Lateef, Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Mann and Thelonious Monk. He has recorded with Archie Shepp, Lee Morgan and David Murray. Workman, with pianist Tommy Flanagan and drummer Joe Chambers, formed The Super Jazz Trio in 1978.[Dryden, Ken "Tommy Flanagan's Super Jazz Trio – Condado Beach". AllMusic. Retrieved March 16, 2017.]
As of 1987, he was a professor at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City, and was a member of the group, Trio 3, with Oliver Lake and Andrew Cyrille. In 1984 he started an on-going performance arts collaborations with writer/director/choreographer Maya Milenovic Workman. Recent works include: "Dos Worlds" "Ophelia's Ocean" & "Guernica Continuum."
Personal life
Workman has three children, Nioka Workman (cellist), Olu Workman (entrepreneur), and Ayana Workman (actor/dancer/poet). Workman lived in Montclair, NJ from 1994 - 2005 and is currently a resident of Harlem, New York City.
[Ebbels, Kelly. "Sonia Sanchez to read alongside Montclair musicians", The Montclair Times, March 21, 2013, backed up by the Internet Archive as of December 30, 2013. Accessed September 18, 2017. "A jazz-and-poetry-infused fundraising event for the Montclair Academy of Dance and Laboratory of Music (MADLOM) will bring together the poet laureate of Philadelphia, Sonia Sanchez, to read alongside jazz musicians, including former Montclair resident and John Coltrane band mate Reggie Workman at the Montclair Public Library, 50 South Fullerton Ave., this Saturday evening, March 23."][ "The State of Jazz: Meet 40 More Jersey Greats", The Star-Ledger, September 28, 2003, backed up by the Internet Archive as of September 27, 2008. Accessed September 15, 2017. "Reggie Workman -- This bass dynamo, active in post-bop and avant-garde circles, lives in Montclair."]
Honors and awards
In 1997, Workman was named as the recipient of a Life Achievement Award by the Jazz Foundation of America and was awarded a citation of excellence by the International Association of Jazz Educators.
In 1999, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation presented him with its Living Legacy Award.
In 2020, he received a Guggenheim Fellowship in music composition in collaboration with Maya Milenovic Workman
and was named by the National Endowment of the Arts an NEA Jazz Master.
Discography
As leader/co-leader
With the Super Jazz Trio
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City with Hidefumi Toki (Baystate, 1978)
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The Super Jazz Trio (Baystate, 1979) – rec. 1978
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Something Tasty With Art Farmer (Baystate, 1979)
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The Standard (Baystate, 1980)
With Trio Transition
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Trio Transition (DIW, 1987)
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Trio Transition with Special Guest Oliver Lake (DIW, 1988)
With Trio 3
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Live in Willisau (Dizim, 1997)
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Encounter (Passin' Thru, 2000)
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Open Ideas (Palmetto, 2002)
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Time Being (Intakt, 2006)
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(Marge, 2008)
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Berne Concert with Irene Schweizer (Intakt, 2009)
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At This Time (Intakt, 2009)
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Celebrating Mary Lou Williams–Live at Birdland New York with Geri Allen (Intakt, 2011)
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Refraction – Breakin' Glass (Intakt, 2013)
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Wiring (Intakt, 2014)
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Visiting Texture (Intakt, 2017)
As supporting artist
With Juhani Aaltonen
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Strings Revisited (Tum, 2002)
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Reflections (Tum, 2004) with Andrew Cyrille
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Prana / Live at Groovy (Leo, 1982)
With Roy Ayers
With Gary Bartz
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Another Earth (Milestone, 1969)
With Art Blakey
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Caravan (Riverside, 1963)
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Ugetsu (Riverside, 1963)
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Free for All (Blue Note, 1964)
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Kyoto (Riverside, 1964)
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Indestructible (Blue Note, 1964)
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Golden Boy (Colpix Records, 1964)
With Hamiet Bluiett
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Orchestra Duet and Septet (Chiaroscuro, 1977)
With The Bridgewater Brothers
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Lightning and Thunder (Denon, 1977)
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Generation Suite (Denon, 1978)
With Roy Brooks
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Ethnic Expressions (Im-Hotep, 1973)
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Live At Town Hall (Baystate, 1978)
With Marion Brown
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Vista (Impulse!, 1975)
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Passion Flower (Baystate, 1978)
With Donald Byrd
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Byrd in Flight (Blue Note, 1960)
With Don Byron
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Tuskegee Experiments (Nonesuch, 1990-91 1992)
With Steve Cohn
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Shapes, Sounds, Theories (Cadence Jazz, 1984)
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Bridge Over the X-Stream (Leo, 1999)
With Earl Coleman
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Manhattan Serenade (1968)
With Johnny Coles
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Katumbo (Mainstream, 1971)
With Adegoke Steve Colson
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The Untarnished Dream (Silver Sphinx, 2009)
With Alice Coltrane
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World Galaxy (Impulse!, 1972)
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Transfiguration (Warner Bros. Master, 1978)
With John Coltrane
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Africa/Brass (Impulse!, 1961)
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Ole Coltrane (Atlantic, 1961)
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The Complete Copenhagen Concert (Magnetic, 1961)
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Coltrane "Live" at the Village Vanguard (Impulse!, 1961 1962)
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The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (Impulse!, 1961 1997) – contains recordings also on Impressions and the above release
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Newport '63 (Impulse!, 1961 1993)
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Ballads (Impulse!, 1961-1962 1963)
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Impressions (Impulse!, 1961–1963 1963)
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(Pablo, 1961-1963 2001)
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(Acrobat, 1961 2015)
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(Impulse!, 1961 2023)
With Stanley Cowell
With Marilyn Crispell
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Gaia (Leo, 1988)
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Live in San Francisco (Music & Arts, 1989)
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Live in Zurich (Leo, 1990)
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Circles (Les Disques Victo, 1991)
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Highlights from the Summer of 1992 American Tour (Music & Arts, 1993)
With Andrew Cyrille
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My Friend Louis (DIW, 1992)
With Sussan Deyhim
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Madman of God: Divine Love Songs of the Persian Sufi Masters (Cramworld, 2000)
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Shy Angels: Reconstruction and Mix Translation of Madman of God (Cramworld, 2002) with Bill Laswell
With Bill Dixon
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Intents and Purposes (RCA, 1967)
With Eric Dolphy
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Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise (Natasha, 1961)
With Booker Ervin
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The Trance (Prestige, 1965)
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Setting the Pace (Prestige, 1965) – with Dexter Gordon
With Mario Escalera
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Blue Mondays (Phoenix, 1981)
With Chris Fagan
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Lost Bohemia (Open Minds, 1992)
With Art Farmer
With Sonny Fortune
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Awakening (Horizon, 1975)
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In the Spirit of John Coltrane (Shanachie, 2000)
With Hal Galper
With Grant Green
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Goin' West (Blue Note, 1962)
With Gigi Gryce
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Saying Somethin'! (New Jazz, 1960)
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Reminiscin' (Mercury, 1960)
With Billy Harper
With Andrew Hill
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Grass Roots (Blue Note, 1968 2000)
With Terumasa Hino
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Love Nature (Canyon/Love, 1971)
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Peace and Love (Canyon/Love, 1971)
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A Part (Canyon/Love, 1971)
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Double Rainbow (CBS/Sony, 1981)
With Takehiro Honda
With Freddie Hubbard
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Hub-Tones (Blue Note, 1962)
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Here to Stay (Blue Note, 1962)
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The Body & the Soul (Impulse!, 1964)
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The Black Angel (Atlantic, 1970)
With Bobby Hutcherson
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Patterns (Blue Note, 1968)
With The Jazz Composer's Orchestra
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The Jazz Composer's Orchestra (JCOA, 1968)
With Elvin Jones
With Clifford Jordan
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Hello, Hank Jones (Eastworld, 1978)
With Duke Jordan
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Flight to Jordan (Blue Note, 1960)
With Oliver Lake
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Again and Again (Gramavision, 1991)
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Edge-ing (Black Saint, 1993)
With Yusef Lateef
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1984 (Impulse!, 1965)
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Psychicemotus (Impulse!, 1965)
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A Flat, G Flat and C (Impulse!, 1966)
With Booker Little
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Booker Little and Friend (Bethlehem, 1961)
With Living Colour
With Herbie Mann
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Our Mann Flute (Atlantic, 1966)
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Impressions of the Middle East (Atlantic, 1966)
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A Mann & A Woman (Atlantic, 1966) with Tamiko Jones
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The Beat Goes On (Atlantic, 1967)
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The Wailing Dervishes (Atlantic, 1967)
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New Mann at Newport (Atlantic, 1967)
With Miya Masaoka
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Monk's Japanese Folk Song (Dizim, 1997)
With Cristina Mazza
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Where Are You? (Il Posto, 1989)
With Ken McIntyre
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Home (SteepleChase, 1975)
With Roscoe Mitchell
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In Walked Buckner (Delmark, 1999)
With Grachan Moncur III
With James Moody
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Running The Gamut (Scepter, 1965)
With Lee Morgan
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Search For The New Land (Blue Note, 1964)
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Infinity (Blue Note, 1965 1981)
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Caramba! (blue Note, 1968)
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Taru (Blue Note, 1968)
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Live in Baltimore 1968 (Fresh Sound Records, 1968) with Clifford Jordan
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The Last Session (Blue Note, 1971 1972)
With David Murray
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Morning Song (Black Saint, 1983)
With New York Art Quartet
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Mohawk (Fontana, 1965)
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35th Reunion (DIW, 2000)
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Call It Art (Triple Point, 2013)
With Dave Pike
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It's Time for Dave Pike (Riverside, 1961)
With Sam Rivers
With Max Roach
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Nommo (Victor, 1976)
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Live in Tokyo (Denon, 1977)
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The Loadstar (Horo, 1977)
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Live in Amsterdam (Baystate, 1977)
With Charlie Rouse
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We Paid Our Dues! (Epic, 1961)
With Hilton Ruiz
With Pharoah Sanders
With Ellen May Shashoyan
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Song For My Father (New Ark, 1989)
With Archie Shepp
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Archie Shepp – Bill Dixon Quartet (1962)
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Four for Trane (Impulse!, 1964)
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The Magic of Ju-Ju (Impulse!, 1967)
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Ballads for Trane (Denon, 1977)
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Live in New York (Verve, 2001) with Roswell Rudd
With Wayne Shorter
With Sonny Simmons
With Heiner Stadler
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Brains on Fire (Labor Records, 1966–73)
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Ecstasy (Labor, 1973) with Walter Steffens
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A Tribute to Monk and Bird (Tomato, 1978) with Thad Jones, George Adams, George Lewis, Stanley Cowell, and Lenny White
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Jazz Alchemy (Tomato, 1989)
With Sonny Stitt
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Moonlight in Vermont (Denon, 1977)
With Monnette Sudler
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Other Side of the Gemini (Hardly, 1988)
With Aki Takase
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Clapping Music (Enja, 1995)
With Horace Tapscott
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Aiee! The Phantom (Arabesque, 1996)
With John Tchicai and Andrew Cyrille
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Witch's Scream (TUM, 2006)
With Charles Tolliver
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Live at the Loosdrecht Jazz Festival (Strata-East, 1973)
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Impact (Strata-East, 1975)
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(Half Note, 2008)
With Mickey Tucker
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Blues in Five Dimensions (SteepleChase, 1989)
With Edward Vesala
With Mal Waldron
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Up Popped the Devil (Enja, 1973)
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Breaking New Ground (Baybridge 1983)
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Mal Waldron Plays Eric Satie (Baybridge, 1983)
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You and the Night and the Music (Paddle Wheel, 1983)
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The Git Go - Live at the Village Vanguard (Soul Note, 1986)
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The Seagulls of Kristiansund (Soul Note, 1986)
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The Super Quartet Live at Sweet Basil (Paddle Wheel, 1987)
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Crowd Scene (Soul Note, 1989)
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Where Are You? (Soul Note, 1989)
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My Dear Family (Evidence, 1993)
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Soul Eyes (BMG, 1997)
With Cedar Walton
With Tyrone Washington
With Richard Williams
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New Horn in Town (Candid, 1960)
With Frank Wright
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Kevin, My Dear Son (Sun, 1979)
With Attila Zoller
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Gypsy Cry (Embryo Records, 1970)
External links