Jamey Haddad, Percussionist: Most Interesting People 2026 

Jamey Haddad gestures to the corner of his living room, where a variety of drums from around the world are stacked up to the ceiling. “There’s 17 there.” He points to another corner. “Eighteen there.” 

He points to the mantle between them. The shelves below them. The wall behind him. Under the coffee table. Down the hallway. More instruments, everywhere. Big ones and tiny ones; djembes, darbukas, drumsticks, mallets, shakers and cymbals. Tools of the trade. 

Peek into his music storage room, and it’s packed, floor-to-ceiling, with more gear, including the collections he takes around the globe as a longtime percussionist for acclaimed singer-songwriter Paul Simon. On the second floor, fragile-looking ceramic drums rest on custom recessed shelving in the living room. A drum kit and piano are set up, ready for jams, near the back door of his Cleveland Heights home. There’s another one on the third floor, too. All in, he estimates, there are maybe 500 instruments in his collection. 

Some of the drums are Haddad originals. The “Hadgini” (a combination of Haddad’s and ceramicist Frank Giorgini’s names) is an asymmetric take on a two-chamber udu drum. The “Hadphoon” is a spiraling cymbal attachment for drums to augment different heads’ sounds, inspired by African tongue drums. The “Hadjira” — a take on the kanjira, a type of tambourine — features interchangeable bell attachments in addition to its jangling metal discs. Some creations are in The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent instrument collection and on display in Arizona’s Musical Instrument Museum. 

But most of Haddad’s collection was acquired on travels around the globe. He gathered some while studying South Asian carnatic music in India for a year-long Fulbright fellowship, and while living and touring in Brazil for nearly a year in the ’80s, and while performing in far-flung locales in Europe, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia. After studying at Berklee College of Music, he played in Tunisia and other parts of North Africa, then traveled to Nigeria along with fellow Cleveland jazz musicians Kenny Davis, Kip Reed and Joe Lovano. 

“We had an amazing experience there,” Haddad remembers. “Unfortunately, I got malaria when I was there. Obviously, I survived it, but it was not fun.” 

His instruments allow him to dabble in genres, but he found a strong pulse in world music. 

“I was a jazz musician through and through,” he says. “But at the same time, I had this itch about what was so beautiful about the world music scene, and I had to follow my heart.” 

That traces to Haddad’s youth spent going to Lebanese family picnics, which featured Arabic performances by relatives. That first inspired him to pick up percussion, and he spent his teen years as the drummer of Cleveland’s North River Street Rock Collection, a popular rock band in the late ’60s and early ’70s, before studying at Berklee. 

He lived in New York City for 25 years, then he, his wife and daughter returned to Northeast Ohio in the early 2000s to help take care of his mother. He taught at both Oberlin College of Music and Berklee for years, taking leaves of absence for recording work and performances with acclaimed musicians like Yo-Yo Ma, Carly Simon, Esperanza Spalding, Simon Shaheen, Nancy Wilson and Steve Gadd. 

And, of course, Paul Simon. Signed tour posters and framed CDs hang in Haddad’s living room, showing the star’s imprint on the drummer’s life. A chance encounter with Simon’s guitar tech, Jim Corona, who happened to live near Haddad during his New York years, was a turning point for the drummer’s career. 

“My daughter was at the park, being a few years old, and she met another little boy who was there with his dad. And his dad happens to be Paul Simon’s guitar tech,” Haddad says. “That simple.” 

One serendipitous connection led to another. This year, after retiring from his Oberlin teaching gig, Haddad will continue to tour with Simon. He’s headed to Europe with the group in the spring. 

With him, he’ll bring a kit filled with just some of his instruments. 

After spending a little bit of time in Haddad’s home, seeing and hearing him shake and tap beats and bend tones out of his life’s collection, you’ll hear the origins behind each one. Then you start to understand why he keeps so many instruments around. 

It’s not just about the sounds they make. It’s about the stories they hold. 

Meet the rest of the 2026 class of Most Interesting People >>

For more updates about Cleveland, sign up for our Cleveland Magazine Daily newsletter, delivered to your inbox six times a week.

Cleveland Magazine is also available in print, publishing 12 times a year with immersive features, helpful guides and beautiful photography and design.