Collateral is three musicians from different musical traditions, uniting through improvisation and listening to create abstract, colourful and expressive music. Sam Shalabi (oud/guitar, Montreal), Norman Adams (cello, Halifax) and Tim Crofts (piano, Halifqax) are improvisers who blend and battle their way through each performance, utilizing global sounds from free jazz, contemporary creative, and Middle Eastern folk music.

This is a raw and beautiful outernational music that mines the deep chasms of humanity in a spontaneous journey.

Collateral has released an eponymously titled recording of their first concert on Bug Incision Records. A second recording Flickering Cotillion was released on Cassiar Records in 2024 and a third recording is not far behind!

In 2017, successfully toured across Canada, performing 12 concerts from Newfoundland to British Columbia. In 2022, Collateral performed at The Guelph Jazz Festival and in 2026 will perform in Halifax and Rimouski, Quebec.

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More information on Sam, Norm and Tim:

Sam Shalabi is an Egyptian-Canadian composer and improviser, living in Montreal, Quebec. Beginning in punk rock in the late 70s, his work has evolved into a fusion of experimental Arabic Music that incorporates traditional Arabic, shaabi, noise, classical, text, free improvisation, electronics, and jazz. He has released 9 solo albums, 6 albums with Shalabi Effect (a free improvisation quartet that bridges western psychedelic music and Arabic Maqam), and 4 albums with Land Of Kush (an experimental 30 member orchestra, for which he composes). He has appeared on over 60 albums and toured Europe, North America, and North Africa. Recent projects include albums with Dwarfs Of East Agouza, a Cairo based trio with Alan Bishop and Maurice Louca -Albums with Karkhana a group featuring members from all over the Middle East and collaborations with vocalist Nadah El Shazly, Oren Ambarchi, Angel Bat Dawid and a quartet with Brahja Waldman, Liam O Neil, and Morgan Moore. He has also composed music for over 20 films in North America, Europe, and The Middle East.

Norman Adams is a cellist who has evolved beyond his training and long career in classical music to reinvent his voice as an interpreter, improviser, sound artist and transdisciplinary performer. Norm is founding Artistic Director of suddenlyLISTEN Music, a Halifax, Canada organisation that has produced and presented concerts, residencies, outreach and tours of new and improvised music and performance for 25 years. Norm is a former Principal Cellist of Symphony Nova Scotia (1991-2018), was guest Principal Cellist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and has performed chamber, new and improvised music across Canada, the US, Europe and the UK.

Norman’s passion is creating, performing and presenting new, improvised and electronic music and sound. Through this work he has had opportunities to collaborate with many leading artists including Joëlle Léandre, Gerry Hemingway, Eddie Prévost, Lawrence Casserley, Pauline Oliveros, Lori Freedman, and Marilyn Crispell.  

Norm currently performs and tours with Stra:ta (with Brandon Auger), Collateral (with Sam Shalabi and Tim Crofts), in a duo with Joe Sorbara, Stay Tuned (with Andrew Reed Miller) and ACE (with Derek Charke).

Tim Crofts is a true 21st Century pianist. He performs a wide variety of music in concerts, clubs and recordings often with suddenlyLISTEN, Upstream, Symphony Nova Scotia, and with such creative music luminaries as Sam Shalabi, Gerry Hemingway, Evan Parker and Dave Douglas. In 2015 Tim released two recordings: his solo CD 8 Ball and Doorknob, and Literal Lateral with the Crofts/Adams/Pearse Trio and percussionist Gerry Hemingway. In 2017 he released Collateral with Adams and Shalabi and Arrhythmia, a collaboration with local spoken word artist hermitofthewoods. Tim has worked extensively in performance with Canadian poet George Eliot Clarke. Tim has toured Canada 4 times, and is a faculty member at the Maritime Conservatory of Music in Halifax.