Ken Hyder
Encyclopedia
Ken Hyder is a Scottish
jazz fusion
drummer
and percussionist born in Dundee, Scotland, perhaps best-known for combining folk
, ethnic and Celtic music
with jazz
. He has worked with and recorded with many musicians, including Elton Dean
, Chris Biscoe
, Tim Hodgkinson
, Paul Rogers, Maggie Nicols
, Don Paterson
and Frankie Armstrong
.
He also worked with Dick Gaughan, Vladimir Rezitsky, Phil Minton, the Scottish Lindsay Cooper, Sainkho Namtchylak, Jo'burg Hawk, Marcio Mattos, Jim Dvorak, John Edwards, Davie Webster, John Rangecroft, Radik Tyulyush, Julian Bahula, Lucky Ranku, Valentina Ponomareva, Larry Stabbins, Harry Beckett, Art Themen, Gary Windo, Pete McPhail, Keith Tippett, Harry Miller, Nick Evans, Raymond Macdonald, Ntshuks Bonga, Hamish Henderson, Jon Dobie, and Lello Colombo.
Hyder has been playing and composing music for over 40 years. In that time he’s produced over three dozen dozen albums of highly original material. He began playing jazz in Scotland before moving south to London where he played at the legendary Little Theatre Club - an avant garde haunt run by the late John Stevens.
He formed Talisker and went on to make six albums with this pioneering and proto-type Celtic jazz group. In the 1970s he began moving away from jazz and into collaborations with musicians from different musical backgrounds including Irish, South African and South American players. Later, he became interested in exploring spiritual aspects of music with spiritual practitioners like Tibetan and Japanese Buddhist monks, and Siberian shamans.
Scotland and Siberia are now the strongest influences in his current work.
Hyder's current projects include K-Space
, with Tim Hodgkinson and Gendos Chamzyryn; Hoots and Roots with Scottish singer Maggie Nicols; RealTime with z'ev, Andy Knight and Scipio; Raz3 with Hodgkinson and Lu Edmonds; EDGE, with Nicols and Raymond MacDonald and a duo with pianist Vladimir Miller.
Most of his recent releases are on Ad Hoc records, Ayler records and SLAM.
His first solo release - Lochee to Sibi : Return - which explores and develops Scottish and Siberian influences on his music, is due out soon.
Ken Hyder's e-book novel based on shamanism in Siberia - Black Sky, White Sky - has been published on Amazon. His second novel - Hack Attack - about cyber crime and cyber terrorism is also available on Amazon.
The Big Team
Dave Brooks / Ken Hyder
Dick Gaughan
/ Ken Hyder
Tim Hodgkinson
/ Ken Hyder
Hodgkinson
/ Ken Hyder / Ponomaryova
Tomas Lynch
Vladimir Rezitsky
Chanter
Bing Selfish
Tshisa!
Bardo State Orchestra
Bardo State Orchestra with Tibetan monks from the Shechen monastery
Northern Lights
Hyder with Nicols
/ Brooks
K-Space
Ken Hyder / Bret Hart
Ken Hyder / Vladimir Miller
The Dynamix
RealTime
Hoots and Roots with Maggie Nicols
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
and percussionist born in Dundee, Scotland, perhaps best-known for combining folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, ethnic and Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. He has worked with and recorded with many musicians, including Elton Dean
Elton Dean
Elton Dean was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello and occasionally keyboard....
, Chris Biscoe
Chris Biscoe
Chris Biscoe is an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, a player of the alto, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, the alto clarinet, piccolo and flute...
, Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
, Paul Rogers, Maggie Nicols
Maggie Nicols
Maggie Nicols , is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer.-Early life and career:...
, Don Paterson
Don Paterson
Don Paterson, OBE, FRSL is a Scottish poet, writer and musician.-Background:Paterson was born in Dundee. He won an Eric Gregory Award in 1990 and his poem A Private Bottling won the Arvon Foundation International Poetry Competition in 1993. He was included on the list of 20 poets chosen for the...
and Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong
Frankie Armstrong is a singer and voice teacher.She has worked as a singer in the folk scene and the women's movement and as a trainer in social and youth work...
.
He also worked with Dick Gaughan, Vladimir Rezitsky, Phil Minton, the Scottish Lindsay Cooper, Sainkho Namtchylak, Jo'burg Hawk, Marcio Mattos, Jim Dvorak, John Edwards, Davie Webster, John Rangecroft, Radik Tyulyush, Julian Bahula, Lucky Ranku, Valentina Ponomareva, Larry Stabbins, Harry Beckett, Art Themen, Gary Windo, Pete McPhail, Keith Tippett, Harry Miller, Nick Evans, Raymond Macdonald, Ntshuks Bonga, Hamish Henderson, Jon Dobie, and Lello Colombo.
Hyder has been playing and composing music for over 40 years. In that time he’s produced over three dozen dozen albums of highly original material. He began playing jazz in Scotland before moving south to London where he played at the legendary Little Theatre Club - an avant garde haunt run by the late John Stevens.
He formed Talisker and went on to make six albums with this pioneering and proto-type Celtic jazz group. In the 1970s he began moving away from jazz and into collaborations with musicians from different musical backgrounds including Irish, South African and South American players. Later, he became interested in exploring spiritual aspects of music with spiritual practitioners like Tibetan and Japanese Buddhist monks, and Siberian shamans.
Scotland and Siberia are now the strongest influences in his current work.
Hyder's current projects include K-Space
K-Space (band)
K-Space are a British-Siberian experimental electroacoustic improvisation music ensemble comprising Scottish percussionist Ken Hyder, English multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson, and Siberian percussionist and throat singer Gendos Chamzyryn. The trio was formed in Tuva, Siberia in 1996...
, with Tim Hodgkinson and Gendos Chamzyryn; Hoots and Roots with Scottish singer Maggie Nicols; RealTime with z'ev, Andy Knight and Scipio; Raz3 with Hodgkinson and Lu Edmonds; EDGE, with Nicols and Raymond MacDonald and a duo with pianist Vladimir Miller.
Most of his recent releases are on Ad Hoc records, Ayler records and SLAM.
His first solo release - Lochee to Sibi : Return - which explores and develops Scottish and Siberian influences on his music, is due out soon.
Ken Hyder's e-book novel based on shamanism in Siberia - Black Sky, White Sky - has been published on Amazon. His second novel - Hack Attack - about cyber crime and cyber terrorism is also available on Amazon.
Discography
Talisker- Dreaming of Glenisla (1975, Virgin Records)
- Land of Stone (1977, ECM)
- The Last Battle (1978, View)
- The White Light (1980, View)
- Humanity (1986, Impetus Records)
The Big Team
- Under the Influence (1984, Konnex Records)
Dave Brooks / Ken Hyder
- Piping Hot (1985, Silly Boy Lemon Records)
Dick Gaughan
Dick Gaughan
Richard Peter Gaughan usually known as Dick Gaughan is a Scottish musician, singer, and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs.-Early years:...
/ Ken Hyder
- Fanfare For Tomorrow (1985, Impetus Records)
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
/ Ken Hyder
- Shams (1987, Impetus Records)
- Burghan Interference: Shams (2000, Slam Records)
Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson
Tim Hodgkinson is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds and keyboards. He is best known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group Henry Cow, which he formed with Fred Frith in 1968...
/ Ken Hyder / Ponomaryova
Valentina Ponomaryova (singer)
Valentina Dmitriyevna Ponomaryova , often also spelled Ponomareva, is a Russian singer, performer of romances and a jazz vocalist.-Biography:...
- The Goose (1992, Woof Records)
Tomas Lynch
- The Crux of the Catalogue (1993, Linecheck Records)
Vladimir Rezitsky
- Golden Years of the Soviet New Jazz Vol 2 (1993, Leo Records)
- Hot Sounds from the Arctic (1994, Leo Records)
Chanter
- Roots Run Deep (1995, Twang Dynasty Records)
Bing Selfish
- Binging It All Back Home (Out of Depression Records)
Tshisa!
- Urban Ritual (1995, Slam Records)
Bardo State Orchestra
- The Ultimate Gift (1995, Impetus Records)
Bardo State Orchestra with Tibetan monks from the Shechen monastery
- Wheels Within Wheels (1996, Impetus Records)
Northern Lights
- Stillness in the Solovki (1998, Long Arms Records)
Hyder with Nicols
Maggie Nicols
Maggie Nicols , is a Scottish free-jazz and improvising vocalist, dancer, and performer.-Early life and career:...
/ Brooks
- The Known is in the Stone (1998, Impetus Records)
K-Space
K-Space (band)
K-Space are a British-Siberian experimental electroacoustic improvisation music ensemble comprising Scottish percussionist Ken Hyder, English multi-instrumentalist Tim Hodgkinson, and Siberian percussionist and throat singer Gendos Chamzyryn. The trio was formed in Tuva, Siberia in 1996...
- Bear Bones (2002, Slam Records)
- Going Up (2004, Ad Hoc Records)
- InfinityInfinity (K-Space album)Infinity is the third album by British-Siberian experimental music ensemble K-Space. It was released in the United States in August 2008 by Ad Hoc Records, an affiliate of Recommended Records, and was a new type of CD that is different every time it is played."Infinity" will not work in a standard...
(2008, Ad Hoc Records)
Ken Hyder / Bret Hart
- Duets - Volume One (2003, InstrumenTales Masterdisc Library, USA)
Ken Hyder / Vladimir Miller
- Counting on Angels (2003, Slam Records)
The Dynamix
- We See Us in the Next Future (2003, Konnex Records)
RealTime
- In the Shaman's Pocket (2008, Ayler Records)
Hoots and Roots with Maggie Nicols
- Life and Death (2009, Ayler Records)
External links
- Ken Hyder's homepage...
- Ken Hyder biography at All About JazzAll About JazzAll About Jazz is a leading jazz music website for enthusiasts and industry professionals based in Philadelphia in the United States.Founded by Michael Ricci in 1995, the Web-Site is maintained by a volunteer staff of writers, editors, and musicians, and provides coverage of all genres of jazz from...
.