Make Love Early, Make Love Often.... HAMID DRAKE and I collaborate on the Track 'In Bed (Making Love with One You Love)' from our Album COMPASSION

Inspired again with MPD in 2012. With thanks to EINSTEIN and EDDINGTON, JANIS JOPLIN, JACK KEROUAC, MARTIN LUTHER and KATIE BORA, LENNY BRUCE and WILHELM REICH, and Sunday-afternoon TV ads.

December 7, 2024

HAMID DRAKE of Louisiana and Chicago, Europe, Africa, India and everywhere, is regularly voted #1 in ‘Percussion’ by Downbeat’s annual Critics’ Poll. He often figures among the top ten on Drums in that Poll, too. Here’s the Poll from 2019.

‘Hamid Drake has a very special way of doing everything on drums,’ WILLIAM PARKER is quoted by CISCO BRADLEY in Cisco’s biography of William, Universal Tonality. ‘His sound is filled with life-affirming energy and concern for others.’

Here Hamid is quoted on Page 8 of the 12-Page Booket for our Album COMPASSION, as he speaks in an interview by musician KEN VANDERMARK, 1997.

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(OPEN SPACE)

In February 2016 Hamid and I got together in RICK G. NELSON’s Marigny Studio of that old Faubourg of New Orleans. We recorded the 16 Tracks that make up our Album COMPASSION over about four hours that Saturday, late morning into middle afternoon.

(PHOTO)

Two years earlier, April of 2014, Hamid and I performed five dates in California. Beyond Baroque in Los Angeles’ Venice afforded us the funding for travel and we performed Friday and Saturday nights at BB. My brother KENTON attended Friday night. Kenton said: “All you need is Hamid.” ALEX DE GRASSI joined us on Sunday afternoon (balmy though concerted drive that was, from L.A. in the morning) for a show in PAUL CANALES’ restaurant and upstairs music-space Duende. DONALD ROBINSON on Drums-Set and BIGGI VINGELOE on Saxophone came aboard toward close of that Set—about 12 poems and songs new to this trio—for our ‘Fanfare’ tribute to GLENN SPEARMAN. Next night, Monday, we performed in Ukiah—a completely different Set of poems and songs—in a benefit for the SPACE Theater that Alex and KATRINA FREY of Frey Wines had largely set up. The trio was flourishing so well that we named it: The GALLOP Trio. Thanks again to videographer ERICA COOPERRIDE and sound-person YANAHY in Ukiah.

Please see the ‘Wings beyond Wings’ video compilation on YouTube for five of our poems or songs in the SPACE Theater concert. Next night, Tuesday, Hamid and I were with JONATHAN RICHMAN for a show in the Emerald Tablet gallery of San Francisco’s North Beach, a few blocks from my 1852 Stockson home of 25 years, and met again friends old and new (VALE of Re-Search and a Class of French students, BOBBY COLEMAN, SAFI NAIROBI of KPOO and KPFA). Wednesday morning was a sometimes hectic drive back to Los Angeles to make our mid-day Flights, Hamid to Chicago and me to New Orleans.

There’s nothing like the road for concatenating Chance into memorable and unforeseeable Moments and eliciting realizations that feel like epiphanies.

Anyway, two years later, February 20, 2016, and the recording-session with Rick as our engineer in his Marigny Studieo.

And:

‘Making Love with One You Love’