Don Alias, 66; Jazz, Pop Percussionist Played With Miles Davis

Don Alias, 66, a leading percussionist who was a highly sought-after sideman for an array of A-list jazz and pop music figures, died March 28 at his home in New York City. The cause of death was under investigation.

In a six-decade career, Alias worked with performers such as Eartha Kitt, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock, Roberta Flack and Nina Simone. He worked with Davis on the great trumpeter’s “Bitches Brew” and the “On The Corner” recordings. He was part of Mitchell’s 1979 tour that produced the live album “Shadows and Light.”

Alias was born in New York City on Christmas Day in 1939 and grew up in Harlem. He studied piano and guitar as a boy but turned to percussion, using the rhythms he learned on the streets of New York along with one-on-one lessons with the great percussionist Mongo Santamaria as a foundation. In 1957, he played at the Newport Jazz Festival with Dizzy Gillespie’s band.

In his early 20s, he studied biochemistry at the Carnegie Institute in Boston but soon returned to music, performing with pianist Chick Corea and other leading New England musicians. Over the years, he helped form two bands, Stone Alliance, an electric fusion ensemble, and Kebekwa, a percussion group.