Altschul is of
Russian Jewish heritage, the son of a laborer who did construction work and drove a taxi. Having initially taught himself to play drums, Altschul studied with
Charlie Persip during the 1960s.[1] In the latter part of the decade, he performed with
Paul Bley.[1] In 1969 he joined with
Chick Corea,
Dave Holland and
Anthony Braxton to form the group
Circle.[1] At the time, he made use of a high-pitched
Gretsch kit with add-on drums and percussion instruments.
In the 1970s, Altschul worked extensively with Anthony Braxton's quartet featuring
Kenny Wheeler,
Dave Holland, and
George E. Lewis.[1] Braxton, signed to
Arista Records, was able to secure a large enough budget to tour with a collection of dozens of percussion instruments, strings and winds. In addition to his participation in ensembles featuring avant-garde musicians, Altschul performed with Lee Konitz,
Art Pepper and other "straight ahead" jazz performers.
Altschul also made albums as a leader, but after the mid-1980s he was rarely seen in concert or on record, spending much of his time in Europe. Since the 2000s, he has become more visible, with two sideman appearances on the
CIMP label with the FAB trio (with
Billy Bang and
Joe Fonda), the
Jon Irabagon Trio recording Foxy and the bassist
Adam Lane. Altschul has played or recorded with many musicians, including
Roswell Rudd,
Dave Liebman,
Barre Phillips,
Denis Levaillant,
Andrew Hill,
Sonny Criss,
Hampton Hawes, and
Lee Konitz. In 2012, Altschul began performing and recording with his new trio, the 3dom Factor, featuring saxophonist
Jon Irabagon and double bassist
Joe Fonda.[3] 2019 saw the first release by the OGJB Quartet, a collective group featuring saxophonist
Oliver Lake, cornetist
Graham Haynes, Joe Fonda, and Altschul.[4]