Giant Beauty

Ahmed Abdul-Malik was a bassist and composer who performed with Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Randy Weston, among others. He also made a series of albums as a leader which blended jazz with Arabic and Middle Eastern music (in addition to bass, he also played the oud). British avant-jazz pianist Pat Thomas and alto saxophonist Seymour Wright, Swedish bassist Joel Grip, and Paris-based drummer Antonin Gerbal formed the group [Ahmed] in 2017 and have released four albums interpreting and reshaping Abdul-Malik’s compositions into lengthy free jazz jams. This 5CD box documents their appearance at the 2022 Festival for Other Music in Stockholm, Sweden, where they performed for roughly 45 minutes a night from August 10-14. Each set consists of a single long track, and they’re all different, not just in the small ways that separate one extended blowout from another as long as you’re listening carefully, but in big ways. One is all piano-pounding clang-and-blare, while another is hard-charging swing, as much jump blues as free jazz. If you’re looking for something that’ll take your head off, but hand it back courteously afterward, look no further.