Hamid Drake
*Hamid Drake was born on this date in 1955. He is a Black jazz drummer and percussionist.
Hamid Drake (Henry Lawrence Drake) was born in Monroe, Louisiana, and when he was a child, his family moved to Evanston, Illinois. There, he started playing with local rock and R&B bands, eventually bringing him to the attention of Fred Anderson, an older saxophonist who had also moved to Evanston from Monroe as a child earlier. Drake worked with Anderson from 1974 to 2010, including on Anderson's 1979 The Missing Link.
At Anderson's workshops, a young Hamid met Douglas Ewart, George E. Lewis, and other Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) members. Drake's flowing rhythmic expressions and interest in the roots of the music drew like-minded musicians together into a performance and educational collective named the Mandingo Griot Society, which combined traditional African music and narrative with distinctly American influences. Drake traveled to Europe, explored the interior landscape of percussion, and shared deeply in Don Cherry's grasp of music's spiritually infinite transformational possibilities. Drake worked extensively with him from 1978 until Cherry died in 1995.
By the close of the 1990s, Drake was widely regarded as one of the best percussionists in jazz and improvised music. Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Drake has collaborated extensively with top free-jazz improvisers. Drake also has performed world music; by the late 1970s, he was a member of Foday Musa Suso's Mandingo Griot Society and has played reggae throughout his career. Drake has worked with pianist Herbie Hancock, saxophonists Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Archie Shepp, David Murray, and bassists Reggie Workman and William Parker.
Drake studied drums extensively, including Eastern and Caribbean styles. He frequently plays without sticks, using his hands to develop subtle commanding undertones. His tabla playing is notable; his questing nature and interest in Caribbean percussion led to a deep involvement with reggae. Since 1991, Drake has collaborated with fellow percussionist Michael Zerang to present annual winter solstice concerts. Both musicians have been committed to returning to Chicago, from wherever they may be performing, to stage the solstice event commemorating the northern hemisphere's shortest day.
(In most years, about a week later, Drake performs again in Chicago with the DKV Trio.) Occasionally, including in 2020, the Hamid Drake & Michael Zerang Duo have also performed a summer solstice concert in Chicago. The duo has released two albums – Ask the Sun (1996) and For Ed Blackwell (2015, recorded in 1995).
