Alvin Fielder

Alvin Leroy Fielder Jr (November 23, 1935 – January 5, 2019) was an American jazz drummer. He was a charter member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), Black Arts Music Society, Improvisational Arts band, and was a founding faculty member of the Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp.

Early life Fielder was born in Meridian, Mississippi on November 23, 1935. His mother played the violin and piano; his father, Alvin Sr, played the cornet and was a pharmacist by profession. Fielder completed his pharmacology studies with a master's degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago. In the mid- to late 1960s, he played in his own trio with Fred Anderson and bassist/cellist Lester Lashley, and worked part-time as a pharmacist.

In 2012, Fielder was awarded the Resounding Vision Award by Nameless Sound in Houston. He died, of complications from congestive heart failure and pneumonia, in Jackson, Mississippi, on January 5, 2019.

Discography As leader A Measure of Vision (Clean Feed, 2007)

With Damon Smith From-to-From with David Dove and Jason Jackson (Balance Point, 2013) Song for Chico (Balance Point, 2016) The Shape Finds Its Own Space with Frode Gjerstad (FMR, 2016) After Effects with Danny Kamins and Joe Hertenstein (FMR, 2017) Six Situations with Joe McPhee (Not Two, 2017)

With Joel Futterman, Kidd Jordan New Orleans Rising (Konnex, 1997) Nickelsdorfer Konfrontationen (Silkheart, 1997) Southern Extreme (Drimala, 1998) Live at the Tampere Jazz Happening 2000 (Charles Lester, 2004) Live at the Guelph Jazz Festival 2011 (Creative Collective, 2011)

With Joel Futterman, Ike Levin Resolving Doors (Charles Lester, 2004) Live at the Blue Monk (Charles Lester, 2006) Traveling Through Now (Charles Lester, 2008) Through the Mirror (Charles Lester, 2014)

With Dennis Gonzalez Debenge-Debenge (Silkheart, 1988) Namesake (Silkheart, 1987) The Gift of Discernment (Not Two, 2008) Resurrection and Life (Ayler, 2011)

With Kidd Jordan, Peter Kowald Live in New Orleans (NoBusiness, 2013) Trio and Duo in New Orleans (NoBusiness, 2013)

With Roscoe Mitchell Sound (Delmark, 1966) Before There Was Sound (Nessa, 2011)

With others Ahmed Abdullah, Liquid Magic (Silkheart, 1987) Charles Brackeen, Bannar (Silkheart, 1987) Kidd Jordan, Masters of Improvisation (Valid, 2018) Peter Kowald, Off the Road (RogueArt, 2007)