Al Dreares
Albert Alfred "Al" Dreares (born January 4, 1929, Key West, Florida) is an American jazz drummer.
Dreares was a childhood friend of Fats Navarro, and studied at Hartnett Conservatory in New York City on the advice of his father, a trumpeter. He played early in his career in the bands of Paul Williams (1953–54) and Teddy Charles (1955). The next year he played with Charles Mingus and in an ensemble with Randy Weston and Ahmed Abdul-Malik. In 1957 he played on Freddie Redd's album San Francisco Suite and worked with Kenny Burrell; 1958 saw him with Gigi Gryce and Jerome Richardson, and 1959 with Phineas Newborn, as well as with his own ensemble.
Other credits include recordings with Mal Waldron and Julian Euell, Bennie Green, Don Pullen, Thelonious Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie.
Discography
As sideman
With Bennie Green
- Walkin' & Talkin' (Blue Note, 1959)
- Bennie Green (Time, 1960)
With Freddie McCoy
- Listen Here (Prestige, 1968)
With Freddie Redd
- San Francisco Suite (Riverside, 1957)
With Frank Strozier
- March of the Siamese Children (Jazzland, 1962)
With Mal Waldron
- Left Alone (Bethlehem, 1959)
- Sweet Love, Bitter (Impulse!, 1967)