Back   to list        Assif Tsahar           Assif Tsahar has accomplished his goal of being a leading saxophonist/bass clarinet player in the downtown New York music scene. Assif was born in Israel on June 11, 1969. At seventeen he began playing the saxophone.pIn 1990, at age twenty-one, in pursuit of music, he came to New York and has become a fixture in the downtown music scene. He has recorded with William Parker, Susie Ibarra, Rashied Ali, Peter Kowald, Hugh Ragin and many others. Also he performs and recorded his music in with different on going projects - solo, brass band, big band and a chamber orchestra. He co founded the Vision Festival in New York with Patricia Nicholson and has been running Hopscotch Records.                 Hamid Drake           Hamid Drake has become the drummer in Free Jazz. Hamid was born August 3, 1955 in Monroe, Louisiana. Growing up in Chicago he met Fred Anderson, with whom he has worked from 1974 to the present day. Besides the drum set, he has studied tablas and other percussion instruments from around the world. Hamid worked extensively with Don Cherry from 1978 until Cherry's death in 1995. Don Cherry, Fred Anderson & Ed Backwell had a great impact on Hamid's music. Now days being one of the most sought out drummers he has been appearing among others with William Parker, Pharoh Sanders, Yusef Lateef, Bill Laswell, David Murray, Ken Vandermark & Peter Brotzmann. Significant to Drake's music is his involvement with the practice and study of Vajrayana Budhism and Sufism. Hamid cites his sources of inspiration with the holders of authentic lineages within this traditions and his parents Henry and Amelia Drake.     Back  to list