Hamid Drake + Mako Sica Douglas / McCombs, Bill MacKay, Charles Rumback

Incorporating Afro-Cuban, Indian, and African percussion instruments and influence, in addition to using the standard trap set, Hamid Drake has collaborated extensively with top free jazz improvisers Peter Brötzmann, Fred Anderson, and Ken Vandermark, among others. Drake has also performed world music; by the late ’70s, he was a member of Foday Muso Suso’s Mandingo Griot Society, and has played reggae. Drake has been a member of the Latin jazz band Night on Earth, the Georg Graewe Quartet, the DKV Trio, Peter Brotzmann’s Chicago Octet/Tentet, and Liof Munimula, the oldest free improvising ensemble in Chicago. Drake has also worked with trumpeter Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, Fred Anderson, Mahmoud Gania, bassist William Parker (in a large number of lineups), and has performed a solstice celebration with fellow Chicago percussionist Michael Zerang semi-annually since 1991.

“Mako Sica” is a translation of what many Native American tribes called “land bad”–an image reflective of their spacious and dynamic sound as well as an homage to the people who coined the term. The band started in 2007 with Przemyslaw Krys Drazek and Brent Fuscaldo. Drazek, formerly in the band Rope (Family Vineyard) has developed a distinct guitar style. With a sound drenched in delay, his low bass rumbles beneath the surface and the piercing treble of his slide guitar evokes whale sounds. His African-style fretwork and flourishes are submerged in effects. Fuscaldo’s voice is used here as an operatic instrument, and often the language being sung is indecipherable. There are rarely, if any words, used as lyrics. Tonight the band will be in a unique collaboration with legendary artist Hamid Drake. This will be their debut performance together!

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Douglas McCombs – guitar
Bill MacKay – guitar
Charles Rumback – drums