HAMID DRAKE

Hamid Drake is considered to be one of the first American musicians to have studied the percussion instruments of other cultures in depth and to have achieved mastery in this field. In the Pierre Boulez Hall, he will perform two sets that focus on different facets of his artistic personality. In the first part of the concert, he receives powerful support from Brooklyn-born jazz and rock guitarist Ava Mendoza. Together they unleash a polyrhythmic fantasy that blurs the lines between the possible and the impossible. In the second set, titled Ancient to the Future, Drake's drum sounds combine with the traditional music of the Gnawa people of Morocco, brought to life by his longtime artistic partner Majid Bekkas on the gimbri, a bass lute, and Xhosa Cole's saxophone and flute meditations to create an acoustic kaleidoscope.