The avant-garde supergroup أحمد [Ahmed] will be performing at dasHaus in Ludwigshafen on 9 October 2026 as part of the Enjoy Jazz Festival. The free jazz ensemble was formed as a tribute to the American musician Ahmed Abdul-Malik. From the 1950s onwards, Abdul-Malik had blended his jazz influences with Arabic and East African soundscapes. The primary concept of the quartet led by British pianist Pat Thomas – who first performed together 10 years ago – was to deconstruct and further develop his historical compositions. In the meantime, however, the band has also explored the work of Thelonious Monk.
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Driven by a free spirit
Pat Thomas and his bandmates (saxophonist Seymour Wright, bassist Joel Grip and drummer Antonin Gerbal) share a common thread with the man their band is named after: they bring together musical approaches that, at first glance, seem incompatible – a driving groove, for example, with free-spirited improvisations. On ‘Ahmed’, the percussive-sounding piano meets precisely structured rhythms that create a trance-like pull and are grounded by heavy bass lines – whilst an expressive saxophone careens off carefree.
