Omar Hakim | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | New York City, New York, United States | February 12, 1959
Genres | Jazz, jazz fusion, pop, funk, rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, record producer, arranger, composer |
Instrument | Drums |
Years active | 1980–present |
Omar Hakim (born February 12, 1959) is an American drummer, producer, arranger and composer. His session work covers jazz, jazz fusion, and pop music. He has worked with Weather Report, David Bowie, Foo Fighters, Chic, Sting, Madonna, Dire Straits, Bryan Ferry, Journey, Kate Bush, George Benson, Miles Davis, Daft Punk, Mariah Carey, The Pussycat Dolls, David Lee Roth, and Celine Dion.
Hakim was born in New York City on February 12, 1959. [1] His father, Hasaan Hakim, was a trombonist. [1] Omar started playing the drums at the age of five, [2] and first performed in his father's band four or five years later. [1] [2]
Hakim first came to major attention backing Carly Simon in 1980, and joined Weather Report in 1982. [2] He played drums on David Bowie's most commercially successful album, 1983's Let's Dance , as well as the follow-up, Tonight , in 1984. Bowie described Hakim as "a fascinating drummer, with impeccable timing" and "always fresh in his approach". [3]
In the ends of 1984, Hakim joined Dire Straits as drummer while recording their fifth album Brothers in Arms . Hakim temporarily replaced the band's then-permanent drummer Terry Williams, when his performance was felt to be unsuitable for the desired sound of the album after most of the album tracks had been recorded. [4] Hakim re-recorded all the drum tracks on the album within three days and then left for other commitments. Hakim and Williams are both credited on the album, however all of the drumming on the final album was performed by Hakim with the exception of the improvised crescendo at the beginning of “Money for Nothing”. [5] [6] [7]
Hakim was also part of the band for Sting's album The Dream of the Blue Turtles , which was released in June 1985. [2]
"By this time, Hakim was teaching himself to program drum machines, which put him in even greater demand as a pop, rock, and R&B session musician, and landed him work with Madonna." [2] He kept working in jazz fusion, playing with Roy Ayers, George Benson, Miles Davis, Lee Ritenour, Joe Sample, David Sanborn, and John Scofield across the 1980s and 1990s. [2] His debut album as leader, Rhythm Deep, was released in 1989, also featured his singing, and was nominated for a Grammy Award. [2]
In the 1990s, Hakim developed further in electronic percussion, which gave him more opportunities as a session musician: he recorded with pop stars Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, and Jewel. [2] His jazz career had faded by the mid-1990s. [2] His second album as leader, The Groovesmith, was released in 2000. [2]
On June 18, 2015, Journey announced that Hakim would replace longtime drummer Deen Castronovo on their North American tour after Castronovo was arrested for domestic violence in Salem, Oregon. [8]
Hakim was featured on the cover of Modern Drummer in 2014, [9] and was on the cover of DrumHead in 2017. [10]
Hakim became the Chairman of the Percussion Department of Berklee College of Music in 2017, replacing the previous Department Chair, John Ramsey. [11]
On September 3, 2022, Omar appeared at the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium performing on sets with Nile Rodgers, Josh Homme, Chris Chaney, Gaz Combes, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson of Rush, Paul McCartney, Chrissie Hynde and Foo Fighters members.[ citation needed ]
Between 1988 and 1989 Hakim appeared regularly as the house band drummer in The Sunday Night Band during the first half season of the acclaimed music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television. [12] After being temporarily replaced by drummer J. T. Lewis for the remainder of that season, Hakim reappeared in the band for the second season in the fall of 1989, when the program returned under the new name Night Music. [13]
Hakim is married to and performs with jazz pianist Rachel Z.
Great Jazz Trio
With Hank Jones and John Patitucci
With Victor Bailey With David Bowie
With Jonathan Butler
With Mariah Carey
With Chic
With Miles Davis
With Dire Straits
With George Benson
With Najee
With Lee Ritenour
With Special EFX
With Joe Sample
With Neal Schon
With Sting
With Kazumi Watanabe
With Weather Report
Source: [14] | With others
Source: [14] |
Weather Report was an American jazz fusion band active from 1970 to 1986. The band was founded in 1970 by Austrian keyboardist Joe Zawinul, American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, Czech bassist Miroslav Vitouš, American drummer Alphonse Mouzon as well as American percussionists Don Alias and Barbara Burton. The band was initially co-led by co-frontmen Zawinul and Shorter but, subsequently as the 1970s progressed, Zawinul largely became the sole musical leader of the group. Other prominent members at various points in the band's lifespan included Jaco Pastorius, Alphonso Johnson, Victor Bailey, Chester Thompson, Peter Erskine, Airto Moreira, and Alex Acuña. Throughout most of its existence, the band was a quintet consisting of Zawinul, Shorter, a bass guitarist, a drummer, and a percussionist.
Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler, David Knopfler, John Illsley and Pick Withers. They were active from 1977 to 1988 and again from 1990 to 1995.
Antonio Sánchez is a Mexican drummer and composer. He is best known for his work with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and as a composer of the film score for the 2014 film Birdman. The score earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and BAFTA Award for Best Film Music; he won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score, and the Satellite Award for Best Original Score.
Elvin Ray Jones was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such albums as My Favorite Things, A Love Supreme, Ascension and Live at Birdland. After 1966, Jones led his own trio, and later larger groups under the name The Elvin Jones Jazz Machine. His brothers Hank and Thad were also celebrated jazz musicians with whom he occasionally recorded. Elvin was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1995. In his The History of Jazz, jazz historian and critic Ted Gioia calls Jones "one of the most influential drummers in the history of jazz". He was also ranked at Number 23 on Rolling Stone magazine's "100 Greatest Drummers of All Time".
Jack DeJohnette is an American jazz drummer, pianist, and composer.
Power Station at BerkleeNYC is a recording studio at 441 West 53rd Street in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It was originally founded in 1977 as Power Station and known as Avatar Studios from 1996 to 2017. Renowned for its exceptional acoustics, the studio has been the site of hundreds of gold, platinum, and Grammy Award-winning recordings.
John Patitucci is an American jazz bassist and composer.
Stephen Kendall Gadd is an American drummer, percussionist, and session musician. Gadd is one of the best-known and highly regarded session and studio drummers in the industry, recognized by his induction into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1984. Gadd's performances on Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" (1976) and "Late in the Evening", Herbie Mann's "Hi-jack" (1975) and Steely Dan's "Aja" (1977) are examples of his style. He has worked with other popular musicians from many genres including Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, Chick Corea, Chuck Mangione, Eric Clapton and Michel Petrucciani.
Deen Joseph Castronovo is an American drummer and singer best known for being a member of classic rock band Journey and hard rock acts Bad English and Hardline. He currently plays drums and shares lead vocals for the bands Journey, Generation Radio, and Revolution Saints. He has been a touring and studio player for Ozzy Osbourne, Steve Vai, Paul Rodgers, and Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler's GZR.
Dennis Milton Chambers is an American jazz fusion and funk drummer. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2001.
Rod Morgenstein is an American drummer with rock bands Winger and Dixie Dregs.
David "Pick" Withers is an English rock and jazz drummer. He was the original drummer of the rock band Dire Straits and played on their first four albums, which included hit singles such as "Sultans of Swing", "Romeo and Juliet" and "Private Investigations". Withers was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Dire Straits in 2018.
Terrence Williams is a Welsh rock drummer. During the 1970s and early 1980s Williams was drummer with Dave Edmunds / Rockpile and Man. Rockpile split in 1981 and Williams joined Dire Straits from 1982 until 1988.
Steve Jordan is an American musical director, producer, songwriter, and musician. Currently, he is the drummer for the Rolling Stones. During the 1970s and 1980s, he was a member of the bands for the television shows Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman.
Abraham Laboriel Jr. is an American session musician best known as the drummer and backing vocalist of Paul McCartney's touring band since 2001. He is the son of Mexican bass guitarist Abraham Laboriel, nephew of Mexican rock musician Johnny Laboriel, and brother of record producer, songwriter and film composer Mateo Laboriel.
Bring On the Night is a 1985 documentary film directed by Michael Apted, focusing on the jazz-inspired project and band led by the British musician Sting during the early stages of his solo career and first solo tour. Some of the songs in the film appeared on his debut solo album The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Unusually for a documentary, Apted shot the film in 35 mm, focusing primarily on band rehearsals, musician interactions, and interviews with every musician in the band. The film won the Grammy Award for "Best Music Video, Long Form" at the 1987 Grammy Awards.
Still Warm is a studio album by jazz guitarist John Scofield. It features keyboardist Don Grolnick, bass guitarist Darryl Jones and drummer Omar Hakim.
Alex Bailey is an American multi-instrumentalist. He is most known for performing with bassist Marcus Miller. He is also known for his drumming on the Walt Disney movie, Safety.
Gregory "Gigi" Gonaway is an American drummer and percussionist, born in Phoenix, Arizona. He has been making music since the 1970s and has played drums on recordings with artists including Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Natalie Cole, and Steve Winwood. Gonaway has toured extensively with Mariah Carey and Clarence Clemons.