Zerang/Drake "Solstice Concerts" Now A Local Tradition

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 21, 2010 4:40PM

20 years ago, renowned percussionists Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake held their first "solstice concert" in one of Links Hall's dance rehearsal rooms as a way for their friends to celebrate the holidays without having to conform to traditional (read: commercialized) ritual. It's now a tradition in itself; a Festivus for the rest of us, if you will.

The format is unchanged from that first concert two decades ago. Drake and Zerang, surrounded by their drum kits and loads of percussion, improvise music on their kits in the rehearsal space, illuminated by candles, until the sun rises and fills the room. If all this sounds a bit new age for some tastes, it's understandable and, in the hands of lesser musicians, the ritual could become just that. But Drake and Zerang, both master musicians, composers and improvisers, play off each other remarkably well, their soundscapes ranging from trance-like interludes to cathartic blasts of spine-rattling cacophony. In the hands of Drake and Zerang, no two concerts, like snowflakes, are alike.

The Michael Zerang/Hamid Drake "Winter Solstice" concerts begin tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. until sunrise at Link's Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield. They'll also be performing at 6 a.m. Thursday and Friday. Tickets to the concerts are $20 and available by calling 773-281-0824 or by clicking this link.