Idris Muhammad. Leo Morris before he converted to Islam. A New Orleans drummer who grew up playing second-line parades and Mardi Gras -- you can hear the Crescent City in every beat he ever played. He drummed on sessions for Lou Donaldson, Pharoah Sanders, and Roberta Flack. Then in 1977 he stepped out front with Could Heaven Ever Be Like This -- a record that took a New Orleans groove and wrapped it in disco strings and soul vocals, and somehow made the whole thing sound like church. Sampled by Jamie xx and a generation of house producers.