سماع [Sama’a] (literally listening in Arabic) is a Sufi ceremony performed as part of the meditation and prayer practice dhikr. These performances often include singing, playing instruments, dancing, recitation of poetry and prayers, wearing symbolic attire, and other rituals. The [AHMED] quartet’s sixth album, سماع [Sama’a] (Audition), is the first of the first-ever two studio albums, recorded at North London’s The Fish Factory in February 2025. The upcoming second album from this session would be a homage to Thelonious Monk.
أحمد [AHMED]—singular, visionary British pianist Pat Thomas, fellow British alto sax player Seynour Wright (who also produced the album), Swedish double bass player Joel Grip, and French drummer Antonin Gerbal—has excavated and re-imagined since 2014 the music of American innovative double bass and oud
