Jazz Articles about Hamid Drake

About Hamid Drake

Album Review

Steve Swell's Fire Into The Music: For Jemeel: Fire From The Road

Read "For Jemeel: Fire From The Road" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro

by Alberto Bazzurro
December 8, 2023

Oltre tre ore di musica catturate in altrettante esibizioni live fra Texas (due, ottobre 2004) e Canada (la restante, settembre 2005) e oggi rese opportunamente disponibili sono ciò che ci offre questo triplo album composito ma per altri versi assolutamente monolitico. Lo firma un superquartetto, sempre quello, che attraversa i sette ampi brani (il primo occupa l'intero primo cd) con fare deciso, ottima capacità di gestire l'evolversi della musica prodotta, i suoi spazi intestini, felicemente bilanciati fra parti corali e ...

Live Review

Hamid Drake, Shabaka Hutchings, Simo Lagnawi al Teatro Golden di Palermo

by Maurizio Zerbo
December 3, 2023

Shabaka Hutchings, Hamid Drake, Simo Lagnawi Nomos Jazz Festival Teatro Golden Palermo 22.11.2023 Ci sono concerti che sintetizzano le finalità e la storia delle più lungimiranti associazioni musicali. Il magnifico set del trio costituito da Hamid Drake, Shabaka Hutchings, e Simo Lagnawi può essere elevato a simbolo di una policentrica direzione artistica che ha sempre fatto prevalere la qualità delle idee. In primo piano la forza ancestrale della musica gnawa del Marocco, nei suoi ...

Album Review

Chicago Edge Ensemble: The Individualists

Read "The Individualists" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
November 3, 2023

Let's trot out the old New York versus Chicago rivalry. Just like with their sports teams (Jets vs. Bears, Knicks vs. Bulls, etc.) music fans feel a need to chose sides. It has been like that since Louis Armstrong left the Windy City for the Big Apple in 1924 and Sun Ra in 1961. Sure NYC is the center of the world for individual jazz musicians, but Chicago has always been a more communal place for music making. Consider the ...

Liner Notes

Nicole Mitchell and Michel Edelin: The Ethiopian Princess Meets the Tantric Priest

by Howard Mandel
July 3, 2023

Nicole Mitchell and Michel Edelin are two of the most creative flutists in music of any sort today, brilliant improvisers with highly developed sensitivities to sound who share a passion for collaborating in real time. Yet their personal approaches to playing one of the oldest instruments in the world represent two far ends of an esthetic spectrum. “We have exactly the same musical interests and influences," Mitchell has said, “but we come to the music from such different directions!"

Radio & Podcasts

Hamid Drake, Michael Formanek, Francesco Bearzatti, Vinnie Sperrazza & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
May 23, 2023

This week we focus on three fascinating releases which celebrate the genius and legacy of Don Cherry, after starting with a tribute to Led Zeppelin, Emma Rawicz's new project, one of the best piano trios I've heard in a long time, lead by drummer Vinnie Sperrazza, and new music by Michael Formanek.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Francesco Bearzatti “Dazed and Confused" Post Atomic Zep (doKumenta) 0:16 Host ...

Album Review

Natural Information Society: Since Time is Gravity

Read "Since Time is Gravity" reviewed by Danen Jobe

by Danen Jobe
May 11, 2023

The concept of trance is one of the oldest in the world. Many older music forms embraced trance for their rituals. One is the Gnawa musical tradition originating in Kano, Nigeria and Morocco, which uses double and triple notes repeated sometimes for hours to induce a religious state while the singer sings stories of spirits. It is played on a gimbri (aka sintir or hajhuj), a three stringed instrument featuring one short and two long goat gut strings over a ...

Album Review

Steve Swell’s Fire Into Music: For Jemeel: Fire From The Road

Read "For Jemeel: Fire From The Road" reviewed by Mark Corroto

by Mark Corroto
April 29, 2023

If listeners only had the one recording, Swimming In A Galaxy Of Goodwill And Sorrow (Rogueart, 2007) from Steve Swell's Fire Into Music, and did not have the pleasure of hearing the quartet live in person, there certainly would be a large blank spot in their metaphorical dance card. The trombonist Swell, bassist William Parker, and drummer Hamid Drake must also mourn the loss of the fourth member of the quartet, alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc (1946-2021). Much like Ornette Coleman, ...