Jump to content

Abdu Salim - Texas sax player!


The Magnificent Goldberg

Recommended Posts

I'm just listening to Lou Bennett's "Now hear my meaning", recorded in Barcelona in 1992 for a one-shot Spanish company. The personnel is

Lou Bennett - org

Ximo Tebar - g

Idris Muhammad - d

Abdu Salim - sax

Abdu is a beast of a player! A bit outside - rather in the way Marvin Cabell used to be - a bit, but not really beyond the moon. I've never come across him on anything else. And I thought I'd ask you lot if you know of him; and any other recordings he's made, because he's really getting to me today.

MG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see he was born in Gilmer, Tx, about 12 miles up the road from my hometown of Gladewater. Gilmer's grown zero for the annual Yamboree, a festival celebrating the yam (which is not the same as the sweet potato, they'll want you to know), the birthplace of Johnny Mathis (which they still don't commemorate in any way that I know of), and the home of on of the ugliest, virulent anti-gay rallies I've ever seen. "God wants all of you DEAD. NOW." was one of the milder sentiments offered in that neck-bulging bug-eyed scream of irrationality finally conquering even is hate that is peculiar to ignunt ass country folk who don't know any better because they don't want to know any better, so fuck'em all then, ok? The Piney Woods of East Texas is full fo folk like that, and yeah, fuck'em all.

It would be interesting to know what Salim's birth name was (assuming that it was not Salim), because it is quite possible that he might still have family in the Gilmer area.

I like what I heard on the MySpace page. He sounds like a less "technically proficient" Booker Ervin who doesn't miss what he don't have (and therefore can't be said to "need" it, so is anything really "missing"?). if you know what I mean. Definitely sounds like somebody of his age and his background, so hey, works for me. I hear a lot of Texas in him, and that'll always be home to/for me, so again - works for me. Given his age, time in Houston, etc. I was wondering for a quick minute if this was perhaps the elusive John Manning (as to whatever became of him, nobody in Houston that I know knows), but probably not.

He sure spent a lot of time in the military, eh?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I see he was born in Gilmer, Tx, about 12 miles up the road from my hometown of Gladewater. Gilmer's grown zero for the annual Yamboree, a festival celebrating the yam (which is not the same as the sweet potato, they'll want you to know), the birthplace of Johnny Mathis (which they still don't commemorate in any way that I know of), and the home of on of the ugliest, virulent anti-gay rallies I've ever seen. "God wants all of you DEAD. NOW." was one of the milder sentiments offered in that neck-bulging bug-eyed scream of irrationality finally conquering even is hate that is peculiar to ignunt ass country folk who don't know any better because they don't want to know any better, so fuck'em all then, ok? The Piney Woods of East Texas is full fo folk like that, and yeah, fuck'em all.

No wonder he went to live in Spain.

MG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 14 years later...

 

listening to this, from 2016, on the recommendation of a friend and decided to Google Salim only to find this old thread

ABDU-IN-BLUE.jpg

 

Looks like he's still active, very little on Discogs. His son is a piano player who's recorded for Challenge Records

https://www.ladepeche.fr/2021/08/06/abdu-selim-quartet-a-lauditorium-9717246.php

 

And your Spanish is better than mine you'll get more from tis page than the bare bones that I managed

https://clasijazz.com/clasijazz-big-band-profesional-abdu-salim-music-el-sendero-de-la-luz/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A sort of mini-documentary about a project of his from 2007(?) -- almost 30 minutes total -- not in English, but what I've just skimmed of it all had subtitles...

The description from the first video says...

  • Abdu Salim has a new project: to create a Jazz Band formed by Afro-Americans living outside the U.S.A. Following all the process from Toulouse to Berlin, we know the person behind the musician, his motivations and his conflicts. The Jazz lived by Abdu Salim.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Rooster_Ties
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw him play in Madrid, at the Café Populart, I think, in a trio with bass and drums (Carlos "Sir Charles" González must have been the drummer).  It was in the early 90's. I was just starting to listen to jazz and he absolutely blew my mind ! I remember him as very influenced by Coltrane, and with a deep, spiritual touch. And those hands !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And I'm just finding that he has a son, Daahoud Salim, who is a classical pianist (and seems to also play jazz as well, from what I'm gleaning from random Googling a few minutes ago)...

https://www.challengerecords.com/artists/1462260496

https://www.challengerecords.com/products/14691058093708

From a disk of an all Erwin Schulhoff program, here's the first movement of Schulhoff's piano concerto.  (And me likey Schulhoff quite a bit too.)

EDIT:  Yeah, his kid's done/doing jazz too...

 

Edited by Rooster_Ties
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...