Ahmed Abdul-Malik

Early life Abdul-Malik claimed that his father was from Sudan and moved to the United States. Research by historian Robin Kelley, however, indicates that Abdul-Malik was born to Caribbean immigrants and changed his birth name: Ahmed Abdul-Malik was born Jonathan Tim Jr., (sometimes spelled "Timm") on January 30, 1927, to Matilda and Jonathan Tim Sr. – both of whom had immigrated from St. Vincent in the British West Indies three years earlier. They also had a daughter, Caroline, born a little more than a year after Jonathan Jr. Jonathan Tim Sr.'s death certificate not only confirms his birth in St. Vincent, it indicates that his father – Abdul-Malik's grandfather – James Tim, and his mother, Mary Daniels, were both from the Caribbean. City directories for Brooklyn, as well as the American Federation of Musicians Union Local 802 directory, confirm the bassist's birth name as Jonathan Tim Jr.

Jonathan Jr. was born in Brooklyn. There, "his skills on violin and viola earned him a spot in the All-City Orchestra." While studying at the New York High School of Music & Art, he immersed himself in Syrian, West African, and Lebanese music. Daniel Spicer, a writer for The Quietus, describes a solo from Jakarawan Nasseur as a "seductive exhortation as she [slid] around the notes with loose, microtonal languor, creating a thick fog that’s intoxicating and startling in equal measure". After having a stroke in the 1980s, he stopped working at New York University and returned to studying, including under oud player Simon Shaheen, until Abdul-Malik died as the result of another stroke in Long Branch, New Jersey in 1993.

Discography

As leader 1958: Jazz Sahara (Riverside) with Johnny Griffin 1959: East Meets West (RCA Victor) 1961: The Music of Ahmed Abdul-Malik (New Jazz) 1962: Sounds of Africa (New Jazz) 1963: The Eastern Moods of Ahmed Abdul-Malik (Prestige) 1964: Spellbound (Status) with Ray Nance and Seldon Powell

As sideman With Walt Dickerson Relativity (New Jazz, 1962) Jazz Impressions of Lawrence of Arabia (Dauntless, 1963)

With Earl Hines 'Fatha': The New Earl Hines Trio (1964 ) The Real Earl Hines (1964 )

With Odetta Sometimes I Feel Like Cryin' (RCA Victor, 1962) Odetta and the Blues (Riverside, 1962) Odetta Sings the Blues (Riverside, 1968)

With Herbie Mann Herbie Mann at the Village Gate (Atlantic, 1961) Herbie Mann Returns to the Village Gate (Atlantic, 1961 )

With Thelonious Monk Misterioso (Riverside, 1958) Thelonious in Action (Riverside, 1958) Live at the Five Spot: Discovery! (Blue Note, 1958 ) Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall (Blue Note, 1957 )

With Randy Weston With These Hands... (Riverside, 1956) Jazz à la Bohemia (Riverside, 1956) The Modern Art of Jazz by Randy Weston (Dawn, 1956 ) Tanjah (Polydor, 1973 )

With others Art Blakey: The African Beat (Blue Note, 1962) John Coltrane: The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (Impulse!, 1961 ) Jutta Hipp: Jutta Hipp with Zoot Sims (1956 ) Ken McIntyre: Year of the Iron Sheep (United Artists, 1962) Dave Pike: Limbo Carnival (New Jazz, 1962 )