The Drummer's Dominion

Drum-Related Blathering and Minutiae

Omar Hakim

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The first time I heard Omar Hakim was on the Burning for Buddy tribute. I was 15 then, and “Slow Funk” remains one of my favorite tracks on that album. Beyond technical ability and “groove”, there’s just a certain energy to Omar’s playing that I’ve always really liked.

These aren’t necessarily the best clips of Omar out there, just a few I hadn’t seen before and found enjoyable.

With Sting:

Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Stanley Clarke, and Omar Hakim with “Footprints” in 1991, Montreax:

Omar Hakim in Weather Report – “Where the Moon Goes”

Omar Hakim with Bobby McFerrin (too bad Richard Bona doesn’t get in on the action in this clip):

Frank Hensler: In Memoriam

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Frank Hensler
On January 6, 2010, my first drum instructor, Frank Hensler, passed away at 74. As events like this inevitably do, it caused me to reflect on life in general and my musical path to this point. I’ve learned a lot of things from a lot of drummers over the last nearly 20 years of playing, but what I learned from Frank is at the core of who I am as a drummer.

He played such a formative role in fostering my love of drumming and jazz. Back when I was amassing my collection of Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa recordings, it would always amaze me when I would bring a new one to him and he’d know every tune. We’d sit and dissect the parts, and he’d show me how to play things that sounded impossible at the time.

Coincidentally, New Year’s weekend I had pulled out Gary Chester’s New Breed, my very first instructional book for drum set. It’s all marked up with notes from Frank. What a credit to him that all these years later I can return to those old lessons and still learn new things.