The composer and improv-artist has written a piece entitled The Praxis of [Ahmed].
Contributing to REMAIIN’s ongoing essay series, Pat Thomas – who has collaborated with the likes of Moor Mother, Marshall Allen and Thurston Moore – has written an essay explaining how the group [Ahmed] approach playing Ahmed Abdul Malik’s music as free improvisers as well as delving into the importance of praxis over theory.
The essay begins with Thomas detailing free improvisation and its role within western music as well as misconceptions about it as a musical form. “The term improvisation unfortunately is still misunderstood, and in regards to Free Improvisation even more so,” Thomas writes. “Some people assume that free improvisers start with a blank canvas and are trying to reinvent the wheel. In fact nothing could be further from the truth. A great improviser will have developed a personal vocabulary that he/she puts to practice every time they perform. Free improvisers are interested in making music that still gives them a sense of wonder and surprise from when they first performed.”
Thomas then goes on to explain the prominence of free improvisation within western music until the 19th century and attribute the shift away from this to “the rise of capitalism and the role of publishing, and the concept of copywrite”.
“We now see in Jazz an over emphasis on recreating past glories,” he continues, “talking abou a mythical Jazz tradition, that one must adhere to. Rather than a real-time continuum in a state of flux, the mistake of reducing a great seeker like Charlie Parker, who was dubbed anti Jazz in his time now used to prop up mediocrity, hoping to be part of the university music curriculum.” Tracing the history of free improvisation and of western classical music, Thomas highlights “the lack of respect” given to Black musicians’ work.
The final part of the essay sees Thomas explain how [Ahmed] – the London-based improv group that he’s part of with percussionist Antonin Gerbal, bassist Joel Grip and alto saxophonist Seymour Wright – explore the work of bassist Ahmed Abdul-Malik. “The beauty of Ahmed Abdul Malik’s music is it openness,” Thomas writes, “this encourages a kaleidoscopic approach and becomes a excellent vehicle for free improvisation.”
