Al Dreares

Who is Al Dreares?

Albert Alfred "Al" Dreares 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 and Teddy Charles. 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.