[1] 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.

[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 went 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.

[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.