Electric Jazz: 1985 (co-winner) Don’t try putting a label on Omar Hakim. Warner Bros, tried it a couple of years ago: They wanted to promote Hakim as a multi-instrumentalist/singer, but before the album could be made, Omar accepted an offer to become Weather Report’s drummer. Okay, so that gig defined what Hakim really was: a modern jazz drummer. The readers of this magazine confirmed that by voting Omar to the top of the Electric Jazz category in the last Readers Poll. But at the same time as the poll results were being published, Omar was in the studio making a rock ’n’roll album with Sting. I’m reminded of the old axiom about doubling: If you’re going to play more than one instrument, you have to play them all well enough so that no one knows which one is your specialty. Omar approaches different musical styles the same way. Hear him […]

January 1986 Issue