Hamid Drake’s Turiya: “Honoring Alice Coltrane” feat. Naïssam Jalal (US, GB, FR, NO, IT)
The singular Chicago drummer Hamid Drake – a close collaborator of Fred Anderson, Don Cherry and Peter Brötzmann among others – first met Alice Coltrane at a concert in the Chicago area when he was only 16 years old. At the time, the keyboardist and singer had come into her own creatively and the young percussionist carried on a correspondence with the artist who helped him achieve his truly holistic musical world. He formed this ensemble to celebrate her spirit, touching on her exploratory jazz work and the religious music she performed at her Northern California ashram. Thanks to Drake’s endless invention on percussion, the group’s shape-shifting performances move through different tunes, grooves, and moods with seamless grace. The core band is comprised of bassist and long-time collaborator Joshua Abrams (Natural Information Society), the multifarious keyboardist Jamie Saft, sampladelic Norwegian DJ Jan Bang and the rising Italian vibraphonist Pasquale Mirra. For this special performance, the group’s frontline will include the British trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey, a key member of London jazz groups like Nérija, Kokoroko and SEED Ensemble, as well as the French-Syrian flutist Naïssam Jalal as special guest, rounding out a line-up that individually brings out different sides of Coltrane’s generous artistry.
Line-up Naïssam Jalal flute Sheila Maurice-Grey trumpet Jan Bang electronics Jamie Saft piano, keyboards, Fender Rhodes Pasquale Mirra vibraphone, percussions Joshua Abrams double bass, guembri Hamid Drake drums, percussions, vocals