Jazz Articles about Hamid Drake

Hamid Drake

by Kurt Gottschalk
June 10, 2006

When Hamid Drake takes the stage at the Vision Festival on June 16th, the concert will be something of a signpost in the drummer's long career. It won't be, as many have assumed to be the case, the first time Drake has led a band. But it will be the first live appearance of Bindu, the first group he has led on record. Drake has stepped up as bandleader as far back as the '80s, when he ...

Hamid Drake & Bindu: Bindu

by Ollie Bivens
April 30, 2006

Because jazz is rooted in improvisation, it can readily incorporate other musical genres and instruments. Especially since the '80s and the emergence of so-called world music, sounds and instruments from Asia, Africa and Latin America have found a welcome home in the music. Percussionist Hamid Drake has been among those at the forefront of this fusion.

Bindu (a term in yoga that means prayer) is a mixture of jazz with Middle Eastern, African and Indian musics. The thirteen-minute “Remembering Rituals," ...

Hamid Drake: Hamid Drake & Bindu

by AAJ Italy Staff
March 13, 2006

Dunque Hamid Drake non è soltanto l’incantevole batterista in grado di nobilitare ogni musica che lo vede partecipe. La sua impresa di leader-compositore in Bindu lo illumina anche come regista sonoro di primo piano, in grado di influenzare benignamente le prove dei suoi amici sassofonisti, sempre fervidi di idee ma che qui trovano accenti espressivi rari. Bindu è concetto indiano non semplice da tradurre, termine polivalente che ha a che fare con la dialettica suono-silenzio e, nella cultura yoga, con ...

Fred Anderson/Hamid Drake/William Parker: Blue Winter

by Michael Davis
November 29, 2005

This record is a joy. A surprise it isn't. These three men have overlapping histories of development and collaboration of such depth that when they convene nowadays, the results are always inspired. One of Hamid Drake's early mentors was AACM mainstay Fred Anderson, who decided to stay home in Chicago, tend bar, and keep his connections to the muse wide open. Later, Drake connected up with William Parker, and they've played on dozens of excellent records over the past few ...

Hamid Drake/Albert Beger/William Parker: Evolving Silence Vol. 1

by Jeff Stockton
October 16, 2005

The Wyman and Watts of jazz, bassist William Parker and percussionist Hamid Drake, traveled to Israel to perform with Roy Campbell in the Pyramid Trio in February, 2005. The next day, after having sat in with the band, Israeli saxophonist Albert Beger recorded his own trio session with Parker and Drake in the studio. The resulting Evolving Silence Vol. 1 is just a taste: four tracks across 42 minutes. But each composition stands individually to represent a different aspect of ...

Fred Anderson: Blue Winter

by Kurt Gottschalk
September 16, 2005

If it wasn't one already, Fred Anderson's trio with Hamid Drake and William Parker can rightly be considered a supergroup. Anderson was named the first Vision Festival Lifetime Recognition honoree last month, and if such awards were given, Drake and Parker would surely have shared the MVP trophy. While the three have worked together before--notably in quartet with Kidd Jordan--this is their first trio recording.Blue Winter also may be Anderson's definitive release, at least thus far. He's made ...

Fred Anderson: Blue Winter

by Michael McCaw
August 23, 2005

Listening to Fred Anderson can sometimes be akin to listening to a sage or prophet. Wordless history and wisdom simply pour from the bell of his horn, allowing him to communicate with listeners on a different level than most other musicians. Recorded on December 12, 2004, this two-CD, nearly 150-minute complete performance with William Parker and Hamid Drake speaks on many levels.Since Anderson's decision to return to music full time in the nineties (and still run ...