a standing miracle wave
How many people are listening to classic recordings of artists such as Mance Lipscomb, Charlie Parker, Charles Ives and Albert Ayler but would never have known, or cared, to attend the performances of these people while they were alive? The answer is, approximately the same as the number of people who will someday be checking out Sabir Mateen.
While his style is reminiscent of late Coletrane, Sabir inflects the cascading torrents of sixteenth and thirtysecond notes with blues, soul, folk and atonal sensibilties. He has been known to work with almost every genre of music, from Filipino folk rock to electronic noise to hard post-bop and neo-classical.
Brought up in Philadelphia, Sabir has worked in L.A., where he was part of Horace Tapscott's ensemble. He moved to New York around the beginning of this decade, and although he played several gigs with Sun Ra, mostly resisted overtures to join the Arkestra in favor of forging his own path.
Now a favorite of musical esotericists, frequently featured in jazz magazines such as Coda and JAZZIZ, Mateen often leaves on tours of the US and the world but almost never misses a Mammals gig. A typical Mammals show will have Sabir performing on alto and tenor saxophones, flute, clarinet, piano and vocals.
Emmallyea, Sabir, and Daniel at the
Mammals tape release gig.
Sidewalk Cafe, NYC. 1/3/99
(Sabir was back in the shadows and I was only using available light)
mic
