Sabir Mateen (born April 16, 1951) is an American musician and composer from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. His musical style is primarily

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...

. He plays

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...

and alto saxophone, B♭ and

alto clarinet The alto clarinet is a woodwind instrument of the clarinet family. It is a transposing instrument pitched in the key of E, though instruments in F have been made. In size it lies between the soprano clarinet and the bass clarinet. It bears a gre ...

, and flute. As a young man, Mateen was originally a percussionist, and he started playing flute as a teenager. From there he moved to alto and then tenor saxophone. He started out playing

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed p ...

in the early 1970s which led him to the tenor saxophone chair of the

Horace Tapscott Horace Elva Tapscott (April 6, 1934 – February 27, 1999) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He formed the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra (also known as P.A.P.A., or The Ark) in 1961 and led the ensemble through the 1990s. Early li ...

Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. He has performed or recorded with musicians including

Cecil Taylor Cecil Percival Taylor (March 25, 1929April 5, 2018) was an American pianist and poet. Taylor was classically trained and was one of the pioneers of free jazz. His music is characterized by an energetic, physical approach, resulting in complex ...

Sunny Murray James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray (September 21, 1936 – December 7, 2017) was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming. Biography Murray was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, where he was raised by an ...

, William Parker,

Alan Silva Alan Silva (born Alan Lee da Silva; January 22, 1939 in Bermuda) is an American free jazz double bassist and keyboard player. Biography Silva was born a British subject to an Azorean/ Portuguese mother, Irene da Silva, and a black Bermudian f ...

Butch Butch may refer to: People * Butch (nickname), a list of people * Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch, an Old West outlaw gang *Barbara Butch, French lesbian DJ and activist * Butch Miller (wrestler) (born 1944), ring name of New Zealand professional wr ...

and

Wilber Morris Wilber Morris (November 27, 1937 - August 8, 2002) was an American jazz double bass player and bandleader. He was the brother of the cornetist, composer, and conductor Butch Morris.Allmusic/ref> Wilber Morris recorded widely, and performed with ...

, Raphe Malik,

Steve Swell Steve Swell (born in Newark, New Jersey, December 6, 1954) is an American free jazz trombonist, composer, and educator. Music career Swell studied at Jersey City State Teachers College before moving to New York City in 1975 where he began his m ...

, Roy Campbell, Jr.,

Matthew Shipp Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an American pianist, composer, and bandleader. Early life and education Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began playing piano at six years old. His mother was a friend of trumpeter Clifford ...

, Marc Edwards,

Jemeel Moondoc Jemeel Moondoc (August 5, 1946 – August 29, 2021) was a jazz saxophonist who played alto saxophone. He was a proponent of a highly improvisational style. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and studied clarinet and piano befo ...

, William Hooker,

Henry Grimes Henry Grimes (November 3, 1935 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist and violinist. After more than a decade of activity and performance, notably as a leading bassist in free jazz, Grimes completely disappeared from the music s ...

, Rashid Bakr, and Hamid Drake. He is a member of the band

TEST Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

, with Daniel Carter.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

* Tom Bruno, Sabir Mateen: ''Gettin' Away with Murder'' (Eremite, 1995) * One World Ensemble: ''Breathing Together'' (Freedom, 1995) * '' Divine Mad Love'' (Eremite, 1998) * Sunny Murray w/ Sabir Mateen: ''

We Are Not at the Opera ''We Are Not at the Opera'' is a live album by drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in June 1998 at the Unitarian Meetinghouse in Amherst, Massachusetts, and was released later that year by Eremite Records. On the album, Murray is joined by saxoph ...

'' (Eremite, 1998) * Hamid Drake & Sabir Mateen: ''

Brothers Together ''Brothers Together'' is an album by drummer Hamid Drake and multi-instrumentalist Sabir Mateen. It was recorded in October 2000 at PBS Studios in Westwood, Massachusetts, and was released in 2002 by Eremite Records. Reception In a review for All ...

'' (Eremite, 2000) * Sabir Mateen, Ben Karetnick: ''Sun Xing'' (JMZ, 2001) * ''

Secrets of When ''Secrets of When'' is an album by American jazz multi-instrumentalist Sabir Mateen, which was recorded in 2001 and released on the French Bleu Regard label. Reception In his review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek states "The sense of aesthetic and dyn ...

'' (Bleu Regard, 2001) * Frode Gjerstad / Sabir Mateen: ''Good Question'' (FMR, 2005) * Sabir Mateen - Daniel Carter - Andrew Barker - ''Not On Earth ... In Your Soul!'' (Qbico, 2005) * ''Other Places, Other Spaces'' (Nu Bop, 2005) * Sunny Murray w/ Sabir Mateen: ''

Perles Noires ''Perles Noires'', Volumes 1 and 2, is a pair of live albums by the drummer Sunny Murray. The albums were recorded during 2002–2004 at various locations, and were released by Eremite Records in 2005. On Volume 1, Murray is joined by the saxophoni ...

'' (Eremite, 2005) * ''Prophecies Come To Pass'' (577 Records, 2006) * William Hooker / Sabir Mateen "Dharma" (KMB Jazz, 2007) * ''Urdla XXX'' (Not Two, 2010) * Sabir Mateen / Matthew Shipp: ''

SAMA Sama or SAMA may refer to: Places * Sama, Burkina Faso, a town in the Kouka Department, Banwa Province, Burkina Faso * Sama, China (Sanya), a city in Hainan, China * Sama, Chalus, a village in Mazandaran Province, Iran * Sama, Nowshahr, a vil ...

'' (Not Two, 2010) * Sabir Mateen / Frode Gjerstad featuring Steve Swell: ''Sound Gathering'' (Not Two, 2010) * Sabir Mateen / Matthew Shipp: ''SaMa Live in Moscow'' (SoLyd, 2011) * ''The Sabir Mateen Jubilee Ensemble'' (Not Two, 2013) * Blood Trio: ''Understory'' (Not Two, 2013) * JOYS! (577 Records, 2016)

With Test

*''Test'' (Estatic Peace, 1996) *''Ahead'' (Now Jazz/Ramwong, 1997) *''Test'' (Aum Fidelity, 1998) *''Live'' (Eremite, 1998)

As sideman

With Marc Edwards * ''Red Sprite & Blue Jets'' (CIMP, 1997) With William Hooker * ''Yearn for Certainty'' (Engine Records, 2010) With Raphe Malik * '' ConSequences'' (Eremite, 1999) * '' Looking East: A Suite in Three Parts'' (Boxholder, 2001) With William Parker *''

Spontaneous Spontaneous may refer to: * Spontaneous abortion * Spontaneous bacterial peritonitis * Spontaneous combustion * Spontaneous declaration * Spontaneous emission * Spontaneous fission * Spontaneous generation * Spontaneous human combustion * Spontan ...

'' (Splasc(H), 2002) *'' For Percy Heath'' (Victo, 2005) With

Samo Salamon Samo (–) founded the first recorded political union of Slavic tribes, known as Samo's Empire (''realm'', ''kingdom'', or ''tribal union''), stretching from Silesia to present-day Slovakia, ruling from 623 until his death in 658. According to ...

* ''Joy and Sorrow'' (Klopotec Records, 2022) With

*'' Our Lady of the Flowers'' (

RogueArt RogueArt (also written Rogueart and Rogue Art) is a French independent record label based in Paris. It was founded by record producer Michel Dorbon in 2005 and specialises in jazz and improvised music. History RogueArt was founded by record p ...

, 2015) With

*'' Alan Silva & the Sound Visions Orchestra'' (Eremite, 2001) *'' H.Con.Res.57/Treasure Box'' (Eremite, 2003) With

*''

Slammin' the Infinite ''Slammin' the Infinite'' is an album by American jazz trombonist Steve Swell, which was recorded in 2003 and released on Cadence Jazz. He leads a quartet with Sabir Mateen on reeds and flute, Matthew Heyner on bass and Klaus Kugel on drums. Rece ...

'' (Cadence Jazz, 2004) *'' Remember Now'' (Not Two, 2006) *'' Live @ the Vision Festival'' (Not Two, 2007) *''

News from the Mystic Auricle ''News from the Mystic Auricle'' is an album by American jazz trombonist Steve Swell, which was recorded in 2007 and released on the Polish Not Two label. He presents a new band called Rivers of Sound Ensemble, extending Slammin' the Infinite with ...

'' (Not Two, 2008) *''

5000 Poems ''5000 Poems'' is an album by American jazz trombonist Steve Swell, which was recorded in 2007 and released on the Polish Not Two label. It was the fourth release by Slammin' the Infinite and the second as a quintet with pianist John Blum. The titl ...

'' (Not Two, 2010)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mateen, Sabir Avant-garde jazz musicians American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists CIMP artists Living people 1951 births 21st-century American saxophonists 21st-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians RogueArt artists