AMN Reviews: [Ahmed] – Wood Blues (2024; Astral Spirits)

Pianist Pat Thomas continues his recent resurgence with yet another release with [Ahmed]. A group named after bassist / oudist Ahmed Abdul-Malik, this is their first recorded offering since 2021’s Nights on Saturn (Communication). It is also their first to not be a reimagining of Abdul-Malik’s works, and is instead a riveting 60-minute single-track performance from the 2022 Counterflows Festival in Glasgow.

Joining Thomas are Joel Grip on bass, Antonin Gerbal on drums, and Seymour Wright on alto sax. While Grip and Gerbal provide compelling workmanlike contributions, the emphasis is on Seymour and Thomas.

The album begins centered around a walking bass line, perhaps a nod toward Abdul-Malik and the tradition in general. But from there the rhythm section provides a dense underpinning to discordant, pounding sax and piano structures.

Thomas plays in his signature percussive style, attacking the keys to form staccato patterns and tone clusters. Seymour is unabashedly outside, with a wailing harshness that is intense but falls just short of overbearing. In other words, Thomas and Seymour push this hour-long session to the limit with contrapuntal harmonies and bursts of dissonance. Particularly Seymour plays short, grainy melodies over Thomas’s thick chording. The result is non-stop sonic brain food.

Wood Blues is an engrossing listen and must have been quite the set to see live. The album will be released on April 12 by Astral Spirits.