Drummer Idris Muhammad died July 29, 2014 at age 74. Born Leo Morris in New Orleans, he began playing professionally at age 12. From 1962–65 he played with soul singers Sam Cooke and Jerry Butler and the group the Impressions. He also worked with singer Betty Carter and played with saxophonist Lou Donaldson from 1965–67, during which time he took the Muslim name Idris Muhammad. He played drums for the musical Hair from 1969–73 and also served as house drummer for Prestige Records, where he recorded with such artists as Harold Maeburn, Houston Person, Gene Ammons, Sonny Stitt and others. He also recorded with singer Roberta Flack and led his own group.

He concentrated on jazz beginning in 1978 when he began playing with Johnny Griffin, and in 1980 he started working with Pharoah Sanders. He was based in Europe in the mid- to late-1980s. In the 1990s, after moving to New York, he worked with John Hicks, Lonnie Smith, Ahmad Jamal, John Scofield, and Monty Alexander. He moved back to New Orleans to retire in 2011.