MATINEE: أحمد [Ahmed] – 'Play Monk' & 'Writing' launch showPat Thomas / Antonin Gerbal / Joel Grip / Seymour Wright

Delighted to welcome back أحمد [Ahmed] - the quartet of Pat Thomas (piano), Antonin Gerbal (drums), Joel Grip (double bass) and Seymour Wright (alto saxophone) - for a special matinee show to mark the release of 'Play Monk' - a new 2CD on Otoroku, and 'Writing', a new book which gathers their liner notes, and essays from long before [Ahmed].

أحمد [Ahmed] make music of heavy rhythm, repetition and syncopation, set deep into an understanding of jazz and the obscure depths of its history. After 6 albums re-imagining the work of Ahmed Abdul-Malik, أحمد [Ahmed] turn to the material of Malik’s bandmate Thelonious Monk in the group's ongoing search for future music.

Across 2CDs, أحمد [Ahmed] atomize Monk’s ‘standards’ - transforming each composition into a shifting quantum time artifact. The melodic, harmonic, rhythmic and spatial gestures of each piece become complex vernacular forms, creating a dialogue in time and a (red)shifting lens through which to view our material present.