Editing Don Alias (section)

== Early life ==
Alias was born in [[New York City]] on December 25, 1939. <ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Chinen |first=Nate |date=April 5, 2006 |title=Don Alias, 66, Percussionist and Sideman, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/arts/music/don-alias-66-percussionist-and-sideman-is-dead.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170304040642/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/05/arts/music/don-alias-66-percussionist-and-sideman-is-dead.html |archive-date=March 4, 2017 |access-date=December 10, 2024 |website=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

He studied the [[piano]] and [[guitar]] as a boy but turned to percussion, using the rhythms he learned on New York's streets and the one-on-one lessons with the percussionist [[Mongo Santamaría|Mongo Santamaria]] as a foundation.<ref name=":0" /> At 16 years old, he was enrolled as a conga player for the Eartha Kitt Dance Foundation when he landed his first professional gig playing with [[Dizzy Gillespie]] at the [[Newport Jazz Festival]].<ref name=":0" />

He had a degree in biology, studying at [[Gannon University|Gannon College]] and the Carnegie Institute for Biochemistry in [[Boston]].<ref name=":0" /> During his time in Boston, he played in jazz night clubs, where he met students from the [[Berklee College of Music]], which aided him in entering the music industry.{{cn|date=May 2025}}