Shamakah Ali regularly drew on the deep soul and funk of his Memphis roots to create a signature groove that made even the creakiest of legs want to dance.Glenn Rodger/Supplied
During the 25 years he lived in Canada, while still touring internationally, drummer Shamakah Ali regularly drew on the deep soul and funk of his Memphis roots to create a signature groove that made even the creakiest of legs want to dance. Famous artists such as Al Green, Lionel Richie and Isaac Hayes all called upon him because his laid-back, feel-good groove made them sound better. He was much in demand as a session player, whether for live concerts or recording sessions, where his solid backbeat sweetened the sound and inspired the musicians around him.
When Mr. Ali wasn’t playing big stages on the road, he drummed at smaller venues in his adoptive city of Toronto, where love enticed him to move in 1997. Mr. Ali and his family eventually returned to the U.S. in 2022 to look after remaining family. His own death from cancer took place on May 1 in a Houston hospital. He was 61.
Growing up in the music mecca of Memphis, Tenn., the boy inhaled the rhythm of the city’s iconic Beale Street, said to be birthplace of the blues and where the civil-rights movement took shape. An early memory was accompanying his mother on a march with Martin Luther King Jr. down Beale Street to city hall in support of striking garbage workers.
Life in the sweltering city, steeped in economic struggle, segregation and music, awoke in him dreams of escape. With his innate sense of rhythm, he saw drumming as a way out. Never having taken a lesson, the preteen would listen to songs until he knew them by heart. The first time he played publicly was as a volunteer outside W.C. Handy Park collecting money to help support the formation of the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, supporting and celebrating the blues. The organization now has its own music awards that are the blues equivalent of the Grammies.
By age 15 he ventured into Beale Street clubs, where he gained invaluable experience by sitting in with Albert King and Rufus Thomas, two great musical entertainers of the era. At that time, he had not yet taken the name Shamakah.
Born on Sept. 2, 1962 in Memphis, he was the youngest and only biological addition to six children adopted by Mattie Mae (née Murphy) Polk, a school pastry chef, and William Edward Polk Sr., a construction worker. He was named after his father. However, when he learned that two generations earlier, freed slaves often took the name of their owner, and that William Edward Polk had been a white politician and slave owner, he would have no further part of it. In his mid-20s he chose the name Shamakah Khalid Ali after consulting with a friend, Rochelle Danquah, professor of American History at Michigan’s Oakland University.
“He told me he wanted to adopt an African-American name that had a special meaning to it. We settled on Shamakah because it means a person of determination who spreads goodness, and he always brought goodness to all the spaces he occupied,” Ms. Danquah said.
After his name change, Mr. Ali intended to convert to Islam but he decided against it for fear of upsetting his strict Baptist mother.
Mr. Ali’s first big musical break came in the form of an actual break in the arm of a friend who happened to be the drummer for Al Green. Mr. Ali stepped in as a replacement and shortly afterward found himself accompanying the artist on Oprah Winfrey’s television show, the beginning of many gigs with the soul legend. Another well-known group he joined was the Barkays, backup band for the late singer Otis Redding. The success of the Barkays’ two albums resulted in a major tour across the U.S. and Japan, a country that reveres American jazz and blues. In a long and storied career, one highlight Mr. Ali cherished was his invitation to perform at singer/songwriter Isaac Hayes’s birthday bash at the Copacabana in New York in 2000. His driving beats propelled the band to new heights for songstress Chaka Khan, the Queen of Funk.
Owing to his versatility and prowess in a range of genres – including funk, country, gospel, disco, soul, hip-hop, house and rock – he was in demand to work with a variety of artists. “The list of headliners that he played and toured with is impressive,” said esteemed Toronto composer and producer Lance Anderson, who hired Mr. Ali for several musical productions and festivals across Canada.
“He also had a drumming credit on the soundtrack of Ruby’s Bucket of Blood, starring Angela Bassett. He was much more than a regular ‘gigging’ or jobbing’ musician,” Mr. Anderson said.
Not only did Mr. Ali memorize his own parts, he memorized those of fellow musicians. No slip, or error escaped unnoticed. It might be remarked upon afterward with a gentle dig softened by a megawatt marquee smile that could light up a room. At 6 foot 2, he had an unmistakable presence. Quisha Wint, a vocalist and owner of QW Productions, a booking agency in Toronto, referred to her “go-to” drummer as “A great big teddy bear who gave bear hugs. He was a gentle giant.”
With four children from a first marriage, Mr. Ali found love for the second time with Cindy Wilson, a seventh-generation African-Canadian, with whom he had a son. When they met, Ms. Wilson was an entrepreneur and divorcee with two children of her own. Their large blended family made for hectic times. “One time we decided to take three of his kids and two of mine on the road with us. I just remember the kids fighting and tussling. Shamakah and I locked ourselves in the hotel bathroom. We looked at each other and said ‘What are we doing?’ That’s all history now as the kids get along great.”
The couple met in 1997 at a concert where she was wandering backstage looking for a bathroom. “I didn’t know who he was,” Ms. Wilson said. “But we ended up talking and my girlfriends and I gave him a ride back to his hotel.” After a whirlwind romance, Ms. Wilson convinced Mr. Ali to settle in Canada. She said one deciding factor was seeing Caribana (now called the Toronto Caribbean Carnival), a colourful celebration of Caribbean culture.
“He loved the freedom of Canada and its multi-ethnicity. He fully intended to take out Canadian citizenship but never got around to it,” Ms. Wilson said. “But in the end that didn’t matter. He loved it here. Canada was his heartbeat.”
Mr. Ali leaves his wife, Ms. Wilson; daughters, Akia and Ebony; sons, Terrell, Davion, Evan and Trimani; and 11 grandchildren.
You can find more obituaries from The Globe and Mail here.
To submit a memory about someone we have recently profiled on the Obituaries page, e-mail us at obit@globeandmail.com.