[Ahmed], Night 1 at ShapeShifter Lab

FourOneOne is proud to present the UK, Sweden, and France-based أحمد [Ahmed] for a three-day residency in New York, at ShapeShifter, on February 19, 20, and 21, 2026.

أحمد [Ahmed] is a jazz quartet conceptually grounded in the life of Ahmed Abdul-Malik, the visionary 20th-century New York City bassist, oudist, composer, educator and philosopher. While their approach does include playing compositions written by Abdul-Malik, أحمد [Ahmed] is no repertory band. The group—pianist Pat Thomas and saxophonist Seymour Wright, both from the UK, Swedish double bassist Joel Grip and French drummer Antonin Gerbal—consider themselves improvisers first, using Abdul-Malik’s thematic material as jumping off points for radical extrapolations...

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FourOneOne is proud to present the UK, Sweden, and France-based أحمد [Ahmed] for a three-day residency in New York, at ShapeShifter, on February 19, 20, and 21, 2026.

أحمد [Ahmed] is a jazz quartet conceptually grounded in the life of Ahmed Abdul-Malik, the visionary 20th-century New York City bassist, oudist, composer, educator and philosopher. While their approach does include playing compositions written by Abdul-Malik, أحمد [Ahmed] is no repertory band. The group—pianist Pat Thomas and saxophonist Seymour Wright, both from the UK, Swedish double bassist Joel Grip and French drummer Antonin Gerbal—consider themselves improvisers first, using Abdul-Malik’s thematic material as jumping off points for radical extrapolations. Together they explore, in Wright’s words, the “aggregate awkward wealth” of Ahmed’s traces, including his recordings, teachings, writings, ethics, and practices of experimentation.

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