Sadik Hakim
Piano
About
Sadik Hakim was an American bebop pianist and composer who played a foundational yet underrecognized role in the development of modern jazz. Born Argonne Forrest Thornton, he was present at Charlie Parker's landmark 1945 Ko-Ko recording session for Savoy Records. He toured and recorded with Lester Young from 1946 to 1948, producing notable sides for Aladdin Records including "Jumpin' With Symphony Sid." He also worked alongside Ben Webster, Dexter Gordon, James Moody, Buddy Tate, and Sonny Stitt over a career spanning four decades. Hakim co-composed the jazz standard "Eronel" with Thelonious Monk and Idrees Sulieman, though the piece was long credited to Monk alone. He composed over eighty pieces during his lifetime. His later albums as a leader included London Suite, Witches, Goblins, Etc. on SteepleChase, and Lazy Bird on Storyville. He relocated to Montreal around 1966, where he remained active for a quarter-century before returning to New York.
Trivia
Hakim performed Thelonious Monk's "'Round Midnight" at Monk's funeral in 1982, just months before his own death. His debut recording as a leader did not arrive until 1962, despite having been central to bebop's emergence nearly two decades earlier. The jazz standard "Eronel," which he co-wrote, takes its title from the reversed spelling of "Lenore," the name of a former girlfriend.
Early Life
Sadik Hakim was born Argonne Forrest Thornton on July 15, 1919, in Duluth, Minnesota, to Luther and Maceola Williams Thornton, his name drawn from a World War I battlefield. Music ran deep in his maternal family: his grandfather Henry Williams was the first African-American conductor to lead his own compositions with the Duluth Symphony Orchestra and operated the Williams Violin School. The household formed a virtual chamber ensemble, with his grandmother Jessie on cello, his mother on violin, and his aunt Lucelia on piano and violin. Hakim began formal piano instruction with his grandfather, who also taught him harmony and counterpoint, though the elder Williams disapproved of jazz, dismissing it as "ragtime." Young Argonne listened to jazz records in secret after his grandfather left for work. His parents separated when he was a toddler, and by 1925 he was raised primarily by his grandparents. He left Minnesota around 1937.
Sadik Hakim Solos
1945
Piano solo - Anthropology - 1945
4/4 swing in B♭ major at 231 BPM
Piano solo - Meandering - 1945
4/4 ballad in E♭ major at 58 BPM