Under One Sun Jamey Haddad

• 1 Home on the Hill 09:18
• 2 Tinker 08:23
• 3 Oh Matey 05:13
• 4 Walk Talk - Walked, Talked 12:33
• 5 Portrait Of 09:15
• 6 Excursions Through a Field of Yellow Daffodils 06:05
• 7 For Those We've Known 05:31
• 8 High Above 10:49
• 9 Ode to Brigadoon - A Path to All 03:56
• Total Runtime 01:11:03

Info for Under One Sun

While celebrating Middle-Eastern percussion, South Indian forms and Venezuelan folkloric styles, Under One Sun's heart remains in the jazz world. Life-long music performance partners, Billy Drewes and Jamey Haddad, have been sharing the stage for over 40 years and have now assembled a group of their favorite players.

Joining them for an evening of internationally-inflected jazz are an eclectic group of musicians who have performed and toured with everyone from Yo Yo Ma’s “Silk Road” to Chick Corea, The Vanguard Orchestra, John Abercrombie, Sting and Paul Simon.

Jamey Haddad met saxophone player Billy Drewes when both were music students in Boston. Nearly 45 years later, the longtime friends have made their first recording together: a collection of nine tunes written by Drewes and performed by Under One Sun, eight musicians who represent five countries and whose ages span five decades. “As my musical journey led me from one continent to another, and as I experienced a planet crying out for understanding, this team of players cosmically came forward,” says Haddad, a longtime professor of advanced improvisation and percussion at Oberlin Conservatory. “The sheer joy of every member experiencing their bandmates’ artistry truly exemplifies the human capacity to celebrate what makes us unique.” Joining Haddad and Drewes are Michael Ward-Bergeman, Luisito Quintero, Roberto Occhipinti, Leo Blanco, Ali Paris, and Salar Nader. Also included are performances by fellow Oberlin faculty trombonists Jay Ashby and Lee Allen, Oberlin Conservatory brass students, and Hadra des Femmes de Taroudant, an all-female vocal ensemble from Morocco.

Billy Drewes, saxophone
Michael Ward-Bergeman, accordion
Roberto Occhipinti, double bass
Jamey Haddad, percussion, drums
Patrick Graney, percussion

Jamey Haddad
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, percussionist/drummer Jamey Haddad holds a singular position in the world of jazz and contemporary music. Haddad’s musical voice transcends styles and trends, and the universal quality of his playing has attracted many international collaborations. Born of Lebanese descent, he is regarded as one of the foremost world music and jazz percussionists in the United States.

Haddad has been voted one of the top world percussionists across the globe by several entities, most recently by the DRUM! magazine. He collaborates regularly with Osvaldo Golijov, Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Joe Lovano, Elliot Goldenthal, Brazil’s Assad Brothers, Daniel Schnyder, Simon Shaheen, the Paul Winter Consort, Nancy Wilson, Dave Liebman, Esperanza Spalding, Maya Beiser, Trichy Sankaran, vocalist Betty Buckley, Steve Shehan, Leo Blanco, Nguyen Lee, and others. He has been a member of Paul Simon’s band since 2000.

In collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra, Haddad curates and performs on its Fridays @ 7 series, which combines a short classical program with an after-concert performance by a world music ensemble chosen by Haddad. This series has been embraced enthusiastically by audiences and musicians alike and has resulted in a significant increase of first-time attendees at Severance Hall concerts.

Haddad also has contributed to the renowned Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix. He has aided with the acquisition of instruments from around the world for the geographical galleries and continues to consult with the museum on instrument curation and program development.

He joined the facutly of Oberlin Conservatory in 2011, where he is professor of advanced improvisation and percussion.

Booklet for Under One Sun