Argonne Thornton (who in the late '40s changed his name to
Sadik Hakim) had a particularly unusual boppish style in the '40s, playing dissonant lines, using repetition to build suspense, and certainly standing out from the many
Bud Powell impressionists. Later in his career his playing became more conventional.
Hakim originally studied music with his grandfather and started performing at local gigs in Minnesota. After a period in Chicago, he was heard by
Ben Webster, who hired him to play with his group in New York (1944-1945).
Hakim recorded with
Webster and
Dexter Gordon, was on part of
Charlie Parker's famous "Ko Ko" session, and gigged regularly with
Lester Young during 1946-1948, appearing on many recordings with Pres. After playing with
Slam Stewart in 1949, in the 1950s
Hakim worked fairly regularly with
James Moody (1951-1954) and
Buddy Tate's Orchestra (1956-1960) but never became too well known himself. Later in life he lived for a period in Montreal (the second half of the 1960s), performed in Europe often, and toured Japan (1979-1980). Other than sharing an album for the
Charlie Parker label with fellow pianist
Duke Jordan in 1962,
Hakim did not record as a leader until 1973; during the next seven years he would lead dates for CBC, Japanese Progressive, SteepleChase, and finally in 1980 for Storyville. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide