Died On This Date (August 12, 2009) Rashied Ali / Drummer Who Played With John Coltrane
Rashied Ali (Born Robert Patterson)
July 1, 1935 – August 12, 2009
Born into a musical family, jazz drummer Rashied Ali began to come into his own after moving to New York City in his late 20s. Within a short time, he was playing behind the likes of James Blood Ulmer, Pharoah Sanders, and eventually John Coltrane. He played on Coltrane’s final recordings. Ali went on to become one of world’s highest regarded avant garde jazz musicians. During the ’70s he opened a Ali’s Alley, a popular jazz club in New York while continuing to play with the likes of Don Cherry and Bill Laswell. Ali continued to play and record up until his passing on August 12, 2009. He died after a heart attack during heart surgery.
Thanks to reader James Dean for the assist

Don Helms’ signature steel guitar can be heard on over 100 
John Wynn was a beloved banjo and mandolin picker who also could make the instruments. After first learning to play the banjo after meeting his future wife back in the ’50s, Wynn began playing in a band called the Stump Jumpers. A cabinet maker by trade, Wynn made his first mandolin during the early ’70s, mainly due to the economics of raising five children at the time. That soon turned into a successful business for Wynn. He was recently inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Hall of Fame as a Pioneer of Bluegrass. John Wynn was 72 when he passed away on August 11, 2010.
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Isaac Hayes was a Tennessee-born musician, singer, songwriter and producer who had a hand in some of the greatest soul songs ever produced. Hayes began his music career as a session musician for Stax Records in Memphis where he began writing songs for the label’s roster of artists. With songwriting partner, David Porter, Hayes co-wrote such R&B staples as “You Don’t Know Like I Know,” and “Soul Man,” which has been called one of the most influential songs of the 20th century. By the late ’60s, Hayes started making his own albums, which included the monumental, Hot Buttered Soul, Black Moses, and most famously, the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film, Shaft!. Then title song would become one of the most beloved songs of the era. In later years, Hayes found a new audience as the voice of Chef in the popular animated series, South Park. In 1998, “Chocolate Salty Balls” as performed on the show by Chef became a #1 hit in the UK. And in 2002, Hayes was elected into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Isaac Hayes died of an apparent stroke after being found by his wife lifeless on the floor next to his treadmill which was still running. He was 65 years old.
