Alvin Fielder

A founding member of the AACM, drummer Alvin Fielder dropped off the radar before re-emerging in the '80s and '90s as a solid, veteran free improviser. Fielder was born November 23, 1935, in Meridian, MS, and began taking piano lessons at age six, but didn't really fall in love with music until 12, when a drummer friend turned him on to Max Roach. He studied with Ed Blackwell after high school, but wasn't sure he wanted to make music a career path, and completed the graduate-school requirements to become a pharmacist like his father. Still, he kept playing the drums throughout...