Over the years I have had a chance to perform on varies models of Sonor drums, but over the past year I had my 1st chance to play the VINTAGE drums with a 18 inch Bass Drum in the studio. They had a controlled punchy sound that did not ring too long. It really spoke to me, that simply! The look and the feel were outstanding and I know that the attention to detail with all the shells and the hardware are world famous for their thoughtful design.
Born in Cleveland July 2nd 1952, percussionist/drummer Jamey Haddad holds a unique position in the world of jazz and contemporary music and as a result, has been featured on more than 400 recordings both as a drum set player and a percussionst. Most recently Jamey was one of 4 living artists inducted in the 2025 Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
Jamey has been the percussionist for Paul Simon for more than 25 years and has collaborated with Sting, Michael League of Snarky Puppy, Bokanté, Osvaldo Golijov, YoYo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Esperanza Spalding, Joe Lovano, Billy Drewes, Dave Liebman, Elliot Goldenthal, Francis Ford Coppola, the Assad Brothers, Simon Shaheen, The Paul Winter Consort, Betty Buckley, Leo Blanco, Tino Derado, Arooj Aftab, among many others. Jamey’s group “Under One Sun” released an album in 2017 which was featured in Downbeat Magazine. Haddad is a recipient of the Cleveland Arts Prize and was recognized as a Legend of Jazz by the Cleveland Jazz Society. Jamey is a Fulbright Scholar where he studied Carnatic music in South India and has been awarded multiple NEA grants for performance. He was voted the Top World Percussionist in DRUM magazine (2012), one of the top four world-percussionists by “Modern Drummer” (July 2007) and featured in Drumhead Magazine (2019).
Jamey has just stepped down after 20 years as a full professor at The Oberlin Conservatory where he taught drum set and percussion and headed up the PI (Performance and Improvisation) program). Jamey also teaches in the percussion studio at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He previously taught for 19 years at the Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory and 12years and at The New School in NYC. Haddad is currently a faculty member at The Silk Road Global Musicians Workshop and CaseyDriesen’s “Blue Ridge Fiddle Camp”.
Jamey has invented and designed a series of percussion instruments that percussionist the world over keep in their permanent performance collection. The Hadgini drum (ceramic), The Hadjira drum (skin & wood), The Hadphoon (metal), The Koohabata drum (2 headed, wood and skin)... among others.
Over the years I have had a chance to perform on varies models of Sonor drums, but over the past year I had my 1st chance to play the VINTAGE drums with a 18 inch Bass Drum in the studio. They had a controlled punchy sound that did not ring too long. It really spoke to me, that simply! The look and the feel were outstanding and I know that the attention to detail with all the shells and the hardware are world famous for their thoughtful design.
Born in Cleveland July 2nd 1952, percussionist/drummer Jamey Haddad holds a unique position in the world of jazz and contemporary music and as a result, has been featured on more than 400 recordings both as a drum set player and a percussionst. Most recently Jamey was one of 4 living artists inducted in the 2025 Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame.
Jamey has been the percussionist for Paul Simon for more than 25 years and has collaborated with Sting, Michael League of Snarky Puppy, Bokanté, Osvaldo Golijov, YoYo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Esperanza Spalding, Joe Lovano, Billy Drewes, Dave Liebman, Elliot Goldenthal, Francis Ford Coppola, the Assad Brothers, Simon Shaheen, The Paul Winter Consort, Betty Buckley, Leo Blanco, Tino Derado, Arooj Aftab, among many others. Jamey’s group “Under One Sun” released an album in 2017 which was featured in Downbeat Magazine. Haddad is a recipient of the Cleveland Arts Prize and was recognized as a Legend of Jazz by the Cleveland Jazz Society. Jamey is a Fulbright Scholar where he studied Carnatic music in South India and has been awarded multiple NEA grants for performance. He was voted the Top World Percussionist in DRUM magazine (2012), one of the top four world-percussionists by “Modern Drummer” (July 2007) and featured in Drumhead Magazine (2019).
Jamey has just stepped down after 20 years as a full professor at The Oberlin Conservatory where he taught drum set and percussion and headed up the PI (Performance and Improvisation) program). Jamey also teaches in the percussion studio at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He previously taught for 19 years at the Berklee College of Music and New England Conservatory and 12years and at The New School in NYC. Haddad is currently a faculty member at The Silk Road Global Musicians Workshop and CaseyDriesen’s “Blue Ridge Fiddle Camp”.
Jamey has invented and designed a series of percussion instruments that percussionist the world over keep in their permanent performance collection. The Hadgini drum (ceramic), The Hadjira drum (skin & wood), The Hadphoon (metal), The Koohabata drum (2 headed, wood and skin)... among others.
