Faruq Z. Bey

Faruq Z. Bey (born Jesse Davis, 1942-2012) was an American saxophonist, composer and poet from Detroit. He co-founded Griot Galaxy in 1972 and wrote most of its music, a free jazz built on odd meters, polyrhythms and open sections, and he remained a central figure of the city's experimental jazz scene until his death. Bey turned to the saxophone after hearing John Coltrane in the 1960s. Griot Galaxy, with David McMurray, Anthony Holland, Jaribu Shahid and Tani Tabbal, recorded Kins for Black and White and Opus Krampus (Sound Aspects, 1985).