A R

A.R. (aka Ali Rahman aka Reggie Ferguson) is a folk percussionist who plays in the African American string band The Ebony Hillbillies. He played Latin music all through the 50’s with some of the finest architects of latin music- Tito Puente, Willie Bobo, Eddie Palmieri, etc. In the 1960s while playing a show with Jimmy Castor at Trudy Heller’s in NYC - Reggie was invited to join Johnny Hallyday, for a series of shows as the opening act to with the Beatles at the Olympia Theater in Paris, France and European tour. By 1964, Reggie was the full time house drummer for the NYC's Apollo Theater, which meant he worked with the who's who of music- Patti LaBelle And The Bluebells, Solomon Burke, Jerry Butler, Jackie Wilson, King Curtis; Motown acts like The Four Tops, Gladys Knight, The Temptations, The Supremes, and Marvin Gaye - who he later toured with. He also toured with Odetta, Sam & Dave, Manhattans, The Four Tops, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Mann, Hugh Masekela, Letta Mbulu, Esther Marrow, and many more. In 1967, after performing together at the Apollo Otis Redding asked Reggie to join his band. They were scheduled to meet in Atlanta, GA; Otis died before that meeting. Reggie Ferguson retired in the 1980s and later reinvented himself as A.R. - the resident washboard and percussionist with "The Last Black String Band In America!" - The Ebony Hillbillies.