Griot Galaxy
Griot Galaxy[1] was an avant-garde jazz band led by Detroit saxophonist and poet Faruq Z. Bey. The band was founded in 1972 with drummer Tani Tabbal, bassist Jaribu Shahid, and saxophonists Bey, Anthony Holland and David McMurray. Their first recorded appearance is often cited as coming from a 1976 album by Phil Ranelin entitled Vibes from the Tribe. Bey is featured with Ranelin on a track called He the One We All Know with drummer Tariq Samad and David Abdul Kahafiz on zeetar. Bey is credited as Faruk Hanif Bey.
The first recording by Griot Galaxy proper was 1981's Kins, released on Black and White records. In 1983, two tracks appeared on an LP called The Montreux Detroit Collection, vol. 3: Motor City Modernists, recorded at Detroit's Montreux Jazz Festival. A 1983 performance at the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) was recorded, but shelved until it was released by Entropy Stereo in 2003.
Throughout 1984, Griot Galaxy toured extensively in Europe. A live recording from Austria was released as Opus Krampus by the German label Sound Aspects. This was the last recording of the group, which officially disbanded in 1989 after Bey was involved in a serious motorcycle accident five years prior.
References
Griot Galaxy began as a trio with Daoud Abdul Khafiz (bass, sitar) and Tariq Abdul Samad (drums). I joined probably in 1974, Tani in 1977. A larger ensemble included Kafi Patrice Nasoma (flute, harp), Elrita Dodds (clarinet, bass clarinet), Sadiq Muhammed (then Sadiq Bey)(congas, percussion), Darryl Pierce (drums before Tani). The group was scaled down (Quartet or Quintet with Dave McMurray (reeds) probably late 1978, early 1979(?) Source: Jaribu Shahid