This percussion duo performed at Roulette on 22 March 1995 in an eclectic cross genre, cross cultural program with Afro-Cuban, jazz, Middle Eastern, and Indian influences and utilizing instruments including frame drums, bendir, daq, djembe, tabla, dumbek, and trap sets. Hamid Drake was mentored by Fred Anderson who introduced him to Douglas Ewart, George Lewis and other members of Chicago‘s Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). He has subsequently worked with Don Cherry, Adam Rudolph and The Mandingo Griot Society, William Parker, David Murray, Peter Brötzmann, Reggie Workman, Yusef Lateef, Wayne Shorter, Bill Laswell, David Murray, and many more. Michael Zerang is a Chicago new music legend, bringing his mastery of Persian and Middle Eastern traditions to improvised music, free jazz, puppet theater, experimental theater, and traditional ensembles. As a teacher and organizer he has held workshops and produced events in Yemen, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Europe, and the USA.

Tracking The Odds: The Roulette Concert Archive is a monthly hour-long radio special produced by Roulette Intermedium (roulette.org) and broadcast in partnership with Wave Farm’s WGXC 90.7-FM and Standing Wave Radio. The broadcasts feature selected highlights from Roulette’s New York experimental music space dating from the early 1980s to the present. Thousands of rare, formative, and often unheard recordings by innovators and adventurous musicians populate the archive. Tracking The Odds airs the third Thursday of each month at 1 a.m. ET and is archived at wavefarm.org.

Founded in 1978, Roulette operates a 400-seat concert hall on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn with a focus on experimental and unorthodox music and performance across all genres and media. It's archive of thousands of audio and video recordings is currently being restored.

Pictured: A screening, reading, and performance for Henry Hills' film "Money" at Roulette (1985) with dancer Pooh Kaye surrounded by (L-R) John Zorn, Tom Cora, Ciro Baptiste, (obstructed, possibly Sally Silvers), Abigail Child, Diane Ward, Susie Timmons, Alan Davies, Bruce Andrews, Ikue Mori, Jim Staley, Butch Morris. Photo: Lona Foote.