Search - Hamid Drake, Sabir Mateen :: Brothers Together

Fire Music!!!!!

Christopher Forbes | Brooklyn,, NY | 03/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Drum and horn duos usually don't get me going. I miss the bottom given by the bass over the course of 70 minutes. But when the two musicians are of the caliber of Sabir Mateen and Hamid Drake all my qualms go away. Sabir particularly has made a sub-genre of the drum and horn duo, always to spectacular effect. And with this 2000 disc from Eremite he may have found his perfect partner. Sabir Mateen is one of the most underrated multi-instrumentalists working in New York today. Originally from the West Coast, Mateen played in Horace Tapscott's legendary Pan-African Orchestra and did a stint with Sun Ra. Relocating to New York in the 80s, Mateen quickly became a staple of the struggling downtown free jazz scene. Along with Tom Bruno, Matt Heyner and Daniel Carter he formed the legendary underground (literally) quartet Test, which played regularly in the Astor Place subway station. Mateen has also formed fruitful partnerships with William Parker, Sunny Murray and a host of younger downtowners, whose careers he's helped to build. Drake, originally a Chicagoan, is one of the most groove-oriented of free jazz drummers. He can play meterless with the best of them, but his forte is the groove, of which he is a master. This album finds Mateen at the top of his powers, soloing on tenor, alto, clarinet, bass clarinet and flute with equal ease and facility. Mateen is often considered a representative of the "ecstatic" school of improv, but unlike others like David S. Ware, Mateen is always based on a wonderful sense of melodic shape and phrase. And he builds a solo carefully, saving his wild screams till the exact right moment. He is a true master of his instruments. Underneath, Drake sets up infectious grooves on his luscious-sounding drums. His bass drum and toms are so resonant that you don't miss the absence of the bass player. Drake is also a skilled ethnic drummer, particularly on frame drums. Some of his best work is reserved for the North African tar. Hamid Drake seems almost everywhere these days and is well represented on CD. In fact, Drake is one half of probably the hottest rhythm section in jazz today (the other half is William Parker). But Mateen is woefully underrepresented on disc. Eremite has done a marvelous job of documenting some of Mateen's small group efforts. Let's hope that they keep these discs in print. They are destined to be highly sought after by fans of New York Free Jazz. And both of these musicians are forces to be reckoned with."

Freedom Dance

Pharoah S. Wail | Inner Space | 10/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Every fan of Hamid should own this, especially if you only know him from O'Neal's Porch or Corn Meal Dance. This is a more rhythmically intensive side of him. You really get a taste here of what I think of as his "multiple concentric circular pond ripples" playing.



Being the "free-jazz drummer" who is the least afraid of playing stuff that forces people to get up and dance their way to ecstacy, the duo is great for him because he has so much space he can own. He makes it a trio. He can give the music the movement one might want from bass & traps interaction, but he also has that glorious, beautiful tone. He's the American drummer whose presence I'd most want my kids to experience, if I had any. I bet it'd be touching to see them dancing to his playing as blissfully as their old man does.

The way Hamid and Sabir (alto and tenor saxes, clarinets & flute) play here... it's like there's a secret, internal logic to all of it. It doesn't feel like happenstance moment music. Somehow it's as if they're also aware of where they'll land and how they'll be interacting with each other a minute from now. This is certainly a special album but I couldn't put it next to The All-Star Game in terms of overall ability to transport me to another world. Then again, that album has 5 masters at their best... the music has all sorts of layers in which to lose oneself.



As I get older I keep thinking Interstellar Space should not be considered the be-all and end-all of drum & reed duo albums (but yes there's some flute here). At this point in my life, I greatly prefer this album, Dried Rat Dog, We Are Not at the Opera and Interstellar Space Revisited (The Music of John Coltrane) (though this one is drum/vibes and electric guitar).

"