Famoudou Don Moye

Although he's played with many other prominent free jazz musicians, Don Moye is far and away best known for his work with the most highly acclaimed avant-garde combo of the '70s and '80s, the Art Ensemble of Chicago.

Moye immediately added a more explicit rhythmic sensibility upon joining the previously drummer-less group. The band's ability to groove was greatly enhanced by his presence. Moye was capable of swinging in a conventional jazz manner, but it was his mastery of various African and Caribbean percussion instruments and rhythmic techniques that set him apart from other jazz drummers of his generation. Moye studied percussion at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he worked with trumpeter Charles Moore's Detroit Free Jazz. Moore's band traveled to Europe in May of 1968. Once there, Moye traveled the continent and Northern Africa, working with such players as Steve Lacy, Sonny Sharrock, and Pharoah Sanders. In 1969, the Art Ensemble arrived in Paris.