Ken Hyder

Ken Hyder (born 29 June 1946) 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 has also worked with Dick Gaughan, Vladimir Rezitsky, Phil Minton, the Scottish Lindsay L. Cooper, Sainkho Namtchylak, Jo'burg Hawk, Marcio Mattos, Jim Dvorak, John Edwards, Dave Webster, John Rangecroft, Radik Tyulyush, Julian Bahula, Lucky Ranku, 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 has produced more than three 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.

Hyder 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; A revived Talisker, 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.

Hyder's e-book novel based on shamanism in Siberia - Black Sky, White Sky - has been published on Amazon and Smashwords. His second novel - Hack Attack - about cyber crime and cyber terrorism is also available.

And the memoir How to Know - Spirit Music - Crazy Wisdom, Shamanism and Trips To The Black Sky is now available on Amazon and Smashwords.