Ahmed Abdullah

Description

Ahmed Abdullah recollects his experience as a jazz musician, composer, educator and activist. He describes the Brooklyn jazz scenes from the 1970s to 2010, citing specific places, performers, and the intersections of music, politics, and community. In 1970, Abdullah moved from Harlem to Brooklyn to live closer to his work at the 1310 New Directions Day Care Center on Atlantic Avenue. He studied with the prominent composer Cal Massey who was deeply involved in Brooklyn’s jazz culture and history. In describing the jazz scene at the time, he remembers The Muse, Blue Coronet, and The East as some of the most popular locales where new and esteemed artists played jazz. Private music scenes were also in musicians’ apartments, particularly those in the Williamsburg area, where musicians frequently came over to rehearse in groups. Abdullah discusses the involvement of Brooklyn’s jazz music and artists in the community and politics of the era. He contends that the 1970s jazz culture was an outgrowth of the Black Arts Movement and other social currents of the 1960s. In particular, he recalls Cal Massey doing a benefit for the Black Panther Party and the community activism of the East when it worked together with the 1310 New Directions Day Care Center to create a head start and cultural awareness program for black youth. Abdullah also describes and gives his perspectives on musicians’ organizations, such as the Collective Black Artists and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. In detailing his music career from the...

From Collection

Lost Jazz Shrines

Record Contributed By

Weeksville Heritage Center