Drummer Omar Hakim and saxophonist Rick Margitza are members of the Miles Smiles ensemble that is going to perform on 1 November at the 16th Jazz Fest 2012.
The ensemble consists of musicians who used to play or record with Miles Davis, one of the most important artists in the history of jazz, and for sure the most prominent one. His 1966 album Miles Smiles the ensemble is named after is among discography classics.
Beside Margitza and Hakim, trumpeter Wallace Roney, guitarist Larry Coryell, bassist Ralphe Armstrong and organist Joey DeFrancesco will perform Miles’s compositions from all periods of his career.
The ensemble is at the moment on European tour within which they will perform at festivals in Skopje, Belgrade and Sarajevo. Ensemble members will participate in workshops for participants of the educational program Music Meeting organized by the Jazz Fest as part of this year’s festival program.
Watch a short talk with Rick Margitza and Omar Hakim recorded in July this year before their performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival, Europe’s biggest festival of it’s kind. Margitza and Hakim remember the great artist they collaborated with.