milford graves
![Milford Graves B453](http://heroesofjazz.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Milford-Graves-B453.jpg)
Milford Graves (August 20, 1941 – February 12, 2021) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, Professor Emeritus of Music, researcher/inventor, visual artist/sculptor, gardener/herbalist, and martial artist. Graves was noteworthy for his early avant-garde contributions in the 1960s with Paul Bley, Albert Ayler, and the New York Art Quartet, and is considered to be a free jazz pioneer, liberating percussion from its timekeeping role. The composer and saxophonist John Zorn referred to Graves as “basically a 20th-century shaman.”
![Curators of 'Milford Graves: A Mind-Body Deal,' Anthony Elms of the Institute for Contemporary Art (left) and Mark Christman of Ars Nova Workshop. (Emma Lee/WHYY)](https://heroesofjazz.com/wp-content/uploads/cache/2023/07/Milford-Graves-BB4024/1074006296.jpg)
Curators of 'Milford Graves: A Mind-Body Deal,' Anthony Elms of the Institute for Contemporary Art (left) and Mark Christman of Ars Nova Workshop. (Emma Lee/WHYY)