Peter Brötzmann was a German jazz saxophonist and clarinetist regarded as a central and pioneering figure in European free jazz. Throughout his career, he released over fifty albums as a bandleader. Amongst his many collaborators were key figures in free jazz, including Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton and Cecil Taylor, as well as experimental musicians such as Keiji Haino and Charles Hayward. His 1968 Machine Gun became "one of the landmark albums of 20th-century free jazz".
Hamid Drake is an American jazz drummer and percussionist.
The Velvet Lounge was a nightclub in the South Loop of Chicago. It started as a jazz club and was called the "dusty epicenter of the Midwest's free form jazz scene." It was located at 2128 1/2 S. Indiana Avenue before moving to 67 E. Cermak when the original building was scheduled for demolition. It closed permanently in 2019.
Kent Kessler is an American jazz double-bassist.
Vintage Duets is an album by American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson with drummer Steve McCall.
Birdhouse is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson, released in 1996 on Okka Disk.
Destiny is an album by American jazz pianist Marilyn Crispell with saxophonist Fred Anderson and drummer Hamid Drake recorded in the 1994 "Women of the New Jazz" festival at Chicago’s HotHouse and released on Okka Disk.
Okka Disk is an independent American jazz record company and label founded in Chicago by Bruno Johnson in 1994.
Fred Anderson / DKV Trio is an album by the American jazz saxophonist Fred Anderson with the DKV Trio, composed of drummer Hamid Drake, bassist Kent Kessler and reedist Ken Vandermark. The album was recorded in 1996 and released on Okka Disk. The DKV Trio formed in the summer of 1994 and started performing at Anderson's Velvet Lounge very early in their career. Those meetings led to the idea of doing a record with Fred. "Black Woman", a classic Anderson composition that appears on several of his other recordings, is a tenor sax duet.
Deep Telling is an album by American jazz guitarist Joe Morris with the DKV Trio recorded in 1998 and released on Okka Disk. The DKV Trio is a band composed of drummer Hamid Drake, bassist Kent Kessler, and saxophonist Ken Vandermark. The whole quartet plays together only on three collective improvisations, on the other five tracks the musicians split off into a variety of duo and trio lineups.
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.
Baraka is an album by the DKV Trio, composed of drummer Hamid Drake, bassist Kent Kessler and reedist Ken Vandermark. It was recorded in 1997 and released on Okka Disk.
Live in Wels & Chicago, 1998 is a double album by the DKV Trio, composed of drummer Hamid Drake, bassist Kent Kessler and reedist Ken Vandermark. The first CD was recorded live at the "Music Unlimited 98" Festival in Wels, while the second was recorded a few days later at the Velvet Lounge, the Chicago club owned by saxophonist Fred Anderson. The album was released on Okka Disk. All the music is improvised but the first disc is a six pieces suite based on Don Cherry's "Complete Communion'".
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.
Harrison Napoleon Bankhead III was an American jazz double-bassist.
The Dried Rat–Dog is an album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann and drummer Hamid Drake. It was recorded in May 1994 at Sparrow Sound Design in Chicago, and was released in 1995 by Okka Disk.
The Wels Concert is a live album by German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, Moroccan guembri player Mahmoud Guinia, and American drummer Hamid Drake. It was recorded in November 1996 at the Schlachthof cultural center in Wels, Austria, and was released in 1997 by Okka Disk.
Live at the Empty Bottle is a live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann, drummer Hamid Drake, and bassist Kent Kessler. It was recorded on July 22, 1996, at The Empty Bottle in Chicago, and was released in 1999 by Okka Disk as a limited-edition CD.
Stone/Water is a live album by the Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet, led by saxophonist Brötzmann, and featuring an ten-piece ensemble. Documenting a performance of a single 39-minute work, it was recorded on May 23, 1999, at the Festival de Musique de Actuelle Victoriaville in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada, and was released on CD in 2000 by Okka Disk. On the album, Brötzmann is joined by saxophonists Mats Gustafsson and Ken Vandermark, trumpeter and electronic musician Toshinori Kondo, trombonist Jeb Bishop, violinist and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, double bassists Kent Kessler and William Parker, and percussionists Hamid Drake and Michael Zerang.
The Chicago Octet/Tentet is a live album by saxophonist Peter Brötzmann on which he is joined by two large ensembles known as the Chicago Octet and Tentet. Six tracks were recorded live at The Empty Bottle in Chicago on January 29, 1997, and September 17, 1997, while the remaining six tracks were recorded at AirWave Studio in Chicago on September 16, 1997. The album was released in 1998 as a limited-edition three-CD set by the Okka Disk label, and, in addition to Brötzmann, features saxophonists Mats Gustafsson, Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, and Mars Williams, trombonist Jeb Bishop, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, double bassist Kent Kessler, and drummers Hamid Drake and Michael Zerang.
