Ahmad Khatab Salim or Ahmad Kharab Salim (born Albert Atkinson) (July 28, 1922 – January 1, 2003) was an American jazz composer, and arranger.

Ahmad Khatab Salim
Birth nameAlbert Atkinson
Also known asAhmad Kharab Salim
Born(1922-07-28)July 28, 1922
Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
DiedJanuary 1, 2003(2003-01-01) (aged 80)
GenresJazz
Occupation(s)Arranger, composer, musician
Instrument(s)Alto saxophone
Years active1939–65

Biography edit

Salim attended DuSable High School with Bennie Green, Dorothy Donegan and Gene Ammons and played alto saxophone in King Kolax's band from 1938 to 1939 before working with Jimmy Raschel and Tiny Bradshaw.[1] He stopped playing after a jaw injury in 1943 and arranged music for the big bands of Lucky Millinder, Cab Calloway, Jimmy Lunceford, Lionel Hampton and Count Basie who recorded his composition "Normania" in 1949, and recorded it again in 1952 as "Blee Blop Blues".[2] Salim left music for a career in real estate from 1949 to 1956 but returned to write and arrange Latin jazz for Tito Puente, Machito, Dizzy Gillespie and others.[1] Salim released three albums under his leadership on Savoy Records in the late 1950s and recorded a further album for Prestige Records in 1964.

Salim died on January 1, 2003, aged 80.[3]

Discography edit

As leader edit

As arranger/composer edit

with Gene Ammons

  • Jug Sessions (EmArcy, 1947 [1976])

With Count Basie

With Dizzy Gillespie

With Illinois Jacquet

With Machito

  • Kenya (Roulette, 1957)

With Herbie Mann

With Phineas Newborn, Jr.

With Tito Puente

  • Puente Goes Jazz (RCA, 1956)
  • Herman's Heat & Puente's Beat! (Everest, 1958) with Woody Herman

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b Feather, Leonard (1960). The New Encyclopedia of Jazz. Horizon Press.
  2. ^ Ginell, Cary (2014). The Evolution of Mann: Herbie Mann and the Flute in Jazz. Hal Leonard Corporation.
  3. ^ "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007". Ancestry. Retrieved 28 February 2023.