When I play with people, one of the first rules is to listen. Just by the near fact that you listen and you're open to listening, or you're listening and you're open to what this other person is doing. Also you going to be open to what you're doing and you're not going to have it like 'planned out'.
Hamid DrakeMusicians are affected by the audience just as much as audiences are affected by the musicians. The only problem is that often times musicians won't allow themselves to admit to that fact.
Hamid DrakeIf you're truly playing improvised music, I don't care who you are or where you come from, you don't know what's going to happen. I feel essentially we really don't know anything anyway, most of the times we're just guessing.
Hamid DrakeI grew up in the funk, rock and roll, blues and r&b tradition, and I came to this thing we call jazz later. And I came to improvise music from the standpoint of jazz; I was improvising, but within these other genres of music.
Hamid DrakeThe place that I found where European musicians and American musicians come together is that odd middle world which is called uncertainty.
Hamid Drake