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Feb 4, 2026As Keepnews said in the original liner notes, “There can be room for vast newness within the unhampered framework of this ‘old’ music.” [Ahmed] have continued to mine that sense of discovery with ongoing zeal.
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Feb 4, 2026Sama’a is the sound of a band at the peak of their powers, their spontaneous interplay, invention and commitment undimmed. In the music of Ahmed Abdul-Malik they’ve found an infinite universe.
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MojoFeb 4, 2026Brutal and delicate, merciful and relentless, [Ahmed] luxuriate in the new spaces and sightlines the studio opens up. [Feb 2026, p.87]
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Feb 4, 2026The opening Ya Annas (Oh, People) joins ghostly split-note sax sounds with graceful bowed-bass figures before turning to a pulsating piano-vamping dance and then a furious melee, while Isma’a (Listen) is a drum’n’bass hook that evolves into hoarsely urgent free-sax improv against exhilaratingly splashy, pummelling piano chords.