Survival Records

Ali co-founded Survival with saxophonist Frank Lowe in 1972 after experiencing frustration with being unable to secure a release with a major record label.[1] He recalled: "I wasn't turned down flatly all the time, but it was like a prolonged kind of thing. It was like 'now's not the time – unless you want to do something like this or that'."[2] Survival's inaugural release was Duo Exchange, an Ali / Lowe duet recorded in the fall of 1972 and issued in 1973.[3][4] Lowe's involvement with the label ceased following the release of the album, but Survival would go on to issue a total of ten albums prior to Ali's death in 2009,[5] along with CD reissues of original Survival LPs, released in conjunction with Michael Dorf's Knit Classics label.[6]

In 2020, Survival was revived thanks to the efforts of Ali's family.[4][5] That year saw the release of two recordings remastered from the drummer's massive recorded archive: Duo Exchange: Complete Sessions, an expanded version of the original 1973 release,[7] and First Time Out: Live at Slugs 1967, a live album featuring an early incarnation of Ali's Quintet.[8] The family plans to continue expanding the Survival catalogue with the addition of "further treasures."[5]

Sources:[9][10]