Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist.
Tatsu Aoki is a multi-instrumentalist trained in traditional Japanese music, educator and experimental filmmaker. In his career as Chicago's Jazz and creative improvisor, he is mostly known as a long-standing bassist for Fred Anderson and he has also worked with George Freeman, and Von Freeman in the 90s. Aoki also has curious recording projects with Malachi Favors, Roscoe Mitchell, Don Moye, Wu Man, and other internationally renowned artists. Aoki also directs cultural events that promote the history of Japanese artistic traditions and contemporary Asian influences in jazz. As the founder and artistic director of Asian Improv Arts Midwest, he hosts events such as the annual Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival and the Japanese American Service Committee's Tsukasa Taiko Legacy arts residency program.
Fred Anderson was an American jazz tenor saxophonist who was based in Chicago, Illinois. Anderson's playing was rooted in the swing music and hard bop idioms, but he also incorporated innovations from free jazz. Anderson was also noted for having mentored numerous young musicians. Critic Ben Ratliff called him "a father figure of experimental jazz in Chicago". Writer John Corbett referred to him as "scene caretaker, underground booster, indefatigable cultural worker, quiet force for good." In 2001, author John Litweiler called Anderson "the finest tenor saxophonist in free jazz/underground jazz/outside jazz today."
Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record company and label founded in Chicago by Bruno Johnson in 1994.
Fred Anderson Quartet Volume One is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson which was recorded live during the 1998 season at the Chicago club owned by Anderson, the Velvet Lounge, and released on the Asian Improv label. The Anderson's Quartet features longtime partner trumpeter Bill Brimfield, drummer Chad Taylor and Asian American bassist Tatsu Aoki.
On the Run, Live at the Velvet Lounge is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson, which was recorded in 2000 at his Chicago club, the Velvet Lounge, and released on Delmark. He's backed by his regular rhythm section of bassist Tatsu Aoki and drummer Hamid Drake.
Back at the Velvet Lounge is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson, which was recorded in 2002 and released on Delmark. This second installment on Bob Koester's label of live recordings made at Fred's own club, the Velvet Lounge, features the young trumpeter Maurice Brown making his first appearance on CD, Chicago Underground's guitarist Jeff Parker and drummer Chad Taylor, and bassists Tatsu Aoki and Harrison Bankhead.
Timeless, Live at the Velvet Lounge is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson, which was recorded in 2005 and released on Delmark. It was the third live recording on Bob Koester's label made at Fred's own club, the Velvet Lounge, shortly before the original venue's demolition and a month after Anderson was honored at the 2005 Vision Festival. He's backed by long-time associates, bassist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Hamid Drake. The event was also filmed and issued on DVD.
Duets 2001 is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson with former Sun Ra drummer Robert Barry, which, despite the title, was recorded live in 1999 at Chicago's Empty Bottle after having performed together only once before. It was released on the Thrill Jockey label.
From the River to the Ocean is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson with drummer Hamid Drake, which was released in 2007 on the Thrill Jockey label.
Blue Winter is a double album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson, which was recorded live at Vermont's Johnson State College in 2004 and released on Eremite, a label founded by producer Michael Ehlers. The set features four long improvisations by a trio with bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake. While the three have worked together before, in quartet with Kidd Jordan on the album 2 Days in April, this is their first trio recording.
2 Days in April is a double album by a free jazz quartet consisting of saxophonists Fred Anderson and Kidd Jordan, bassist William Parker and drummer Hamid Drake, documenting two 1999 concerts at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at Cambridge. It was released on Eremite, a label founded by producer Michael Ehlers. Anderson and Jordan first meeting was at a mid-80s AACM concert in Chicago, but this is their first recording together.
Fred Chicago Chamber Music is a double album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson recorded in 1996 and released on the Chicago-based Southport label. The first disc matches him in a trio with bassist Tatsu Aoki and drummer Afifi Phillard, while the second is composed of Anderson/Aoki duets with Southport co-owner Bradley Parker-Sparrow joining in on piano for two tracks.
Live at the Velvet Lounge Volume Three is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson which was recorded during the 2007 Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival at the club owned by Anderson, the Velvet Lounge, and released on the Asian Improv label. Anderson's Quartet features San Franciscan saxophonist Francis Wong, drummer Chad Taylor and bassist Tatsu Aoki.
Eremite Records is an independent American jazz record label founded in 1995 by Michael Ehlers, with early involvement from music writer Byron Coley. Ehlers was a student of Archie Shepp's at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After college, he began producing concerts in the Amherst area, and Eremite evolved from those events. The label name came from an alternate title to the Thelonious Monk tune "Reflections": "Portrait of an Eremite". The label's logo, designed by Savage Pencil, is an image of a robed Joe McPhee playing soprano saxophone. Eremite organized a concert series in Western Massachusetts that ran through 2008 and produced roughly 100 concerts, including five Fire in the Valley festivals. From 1998–2018, Eremite managed a touring organization that arranged hundreds of concerts across North America for its artists.
Michael Zerang is an American jazz percussionist and drummer.
Velvet Songs, is a double album by Chicago Trio, a collective jazz group consisting of saxophonist Ernest Dawkins, bassist Harrison Bankhead and drummer Hamid Drake. It was recorded live in 2008 at the Velvet Lounge, the club owned by saxophonist Fred Anderson, and released on the French RogueArt label.
2×4 is an album by double bassists Malachi Favors Maghostut and Tatsu Aoki. It was recorded in August 1998 at Sparrow Sound Design in Chicago, Illinois, and was released on CD in 1999 by Southport Records.
Birthday Live 2000 is a live album by saxophonist Fred Anderson. It was recorded at the Velvet Lounge in Chicago, Illinois, on March 22 and 25, 2000, and was released in 2009 by Asian Improv Records as a limited edition "official bootleg." On the album, Anderson is joined by bassist Tatsu Aoki and drummer Chad Taylor.
Spiral Mercury is a live album by Pharoah & the Underground, featuring saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, trumpeter Rob Mazurek and drummer Chad Taylor of the Chicago Underground Duo, along with percussionist Mauricio Takara of the São Paulo Underground, bassist Matthew Lux of the Pulsar Quartet, and multi-instrumentalist Guilherme Granado. It was recorded on August 11, 2013, at the Jazz em Agosto Festival in Lisbon, and was released in 2014 by Clean Feed Records.
