16th Jazz Fest Sarajevo 2012 is going to present some of most important American jazz musicians gathered around the Miles Smiles project. As a member of that ensemble, Omar Hakim, a drummer with a rare reputation and skills, is going to perform on 1 November at the BKC.
Praised for his unbelievable versatility and technique, in the past 35 years Hakim collaborated with musicians from Miles Davis to Michael Jackson and Madonna who he performed with for eight years. He left a trace on hundreds of recordings including his own ones. His first album Rhythm Deep brought him a Grammy nomination.
He started playing when he was five years old, at the age of nine he was already performing with his father, and although his roots lie in jazz tradition, he is uniquely successful in other music genres in a way no one before him was. He collaborated on albums which became milestones of their time and worked with musicians like Miles, Dire Straits and Sting.
He also performed and recorded with Bobby McFerrin, John Scofield, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion.
He was a member of Weather Report, and played on David Bowie’s album Let’s Dance at the same time. He played with Miles on the famous 1986 Tutu album and Music from Siesta, released a year after with music from the iconic movie Siesta.
His drum solo in Sting’s movie in the song I Burn For You fans and critics consider the most important drum solo recorded on film. It was a strong and virtuous jazz solo in the middle of a rock concert that surprised the audience and got standing ovations every night of the tour.