Ahmad Jamal
(born Frederick Russell Jones
[1]) on July 2, 1930 is a noted American jazz pianist.
Jamal was one of Miles Davis's favorite pianists and was a key influence on the trumpeter's "First Great Quintet" (featuring John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums). Davis had long admired Jamal's use of space and dynamics, and had asked Wynton Kelly to "sound more like Ahmad Jamal" on the track "Freddie Freeloader" on the landmark album Kind of Blue
.
Since the 1980s Jamal has been regularly touring the major clubs of the United States and the large European jazz festivals. He is generally accompanied by bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad. He has also performed regularly with saxophonist George Coleman.
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AHMAD JAMAL TICKETS
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Biography
Ahmad Jamal is an acclaimed virtuoso jazz piano and keyboard master, composer, and innovative trio leader. He was born in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania. Jamal attended
George Westinghouse High School. He began playing piano at the age of three, when his uncle Lawrence challenged him to duplicate what he was playing on the piano.
[2] Jamal began formal piano training at the age of seven with
Mary Cardwell Dawson, whom he describes as greatly influencing him. He converted to
Islam in 1952, officially changing his name at that time. His first OKeh record was credited in advertisements to the Fritz Jones Trio, but it did not see release until after his name change, so the name Ahmad Jamal appears on all of his released recordings. He is a member of the
Ahmadiyya Muslim Community.
Jamal began touring with
George Hudson's Orchestra. He joined another touring group known as The Four Strings, which was soon disbanded. He moved to
Chicago in 1950, and made his first sides in 1951 for the
Okeh label with The Three Strings; the other members were guitarist
Ray Crawford and a bassist (at different times,
Eddie Calhoun,
Richard Davis, and
Israel Crosby). Jamal subsequently recorded for
Parrot (1953-1955) and
Epic (1955) using the piano-guitar-bass lineup. The trio's sound changed significantly when Crawford was replaced with drummer
Vernel Fournier in 1957, and the group worked as the "House Trio" at
Chicago's Pershing Hotel. The trio released the live album
But Not for Me
which stayed on the Ten Best-selling charts for 108 weeks. Jamal's well known song "
Poinciana" was first released on this album. The financial success of the album allowed Jamal to open a restaurant and club called
The Alhambra
.
[3]
Jamal typically plays with a bassist and drummer; his current trio is with bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad. At the Toronto Jazz Festival (June 2008) and perhaps elsewhere, Jamal's group included innovative percussionist
Manolo Badrena.
[4] Jamal has also recorded with saxophonist
George Coleman on the album
The Essence
; with vibraphonist
Gary Burton on the recording "In Concert"; with the voices of the Howard A. Roberts Chorale on the recordings "Bright, Blue and Beautiful" and "Cry Young"; with brass, reeds, and strings celebrating his hometown of "Pittsburgh"; and with "The Assai Quartet", among other non-trio achievements.
In 1994, Jamal received the
National Endowment of the Arts American Jazz Masters award and also named a Duke Ellington Fellow at
Yale University.
Ahmad Jamal is also known to be a
Steinway Artist since 1960. It is rumored that his pianos sometimes needed to be tuned between sets due to the percussive nature of some of his playing. He also became a premier player of the Fender Rhodes piano in the 1980s as on the recordings "Digital Works" and on "Jamaica". Mr Jamal is also noted for his flowing lyrical lines, thundering crescendos, ability to run arpeggios from end to end of the 88 keys, and lush, beautiful ballad and Latin jazz playing. Of special note is the influence of Ahmad Jamal on innovative musician and trumpeter Miles Davis who at one point said that all of his inspiration came from Ahmad Jamal; not only on his trumpet playing, song selection, and pianists, but in the area of "modes". Jamal was an early exponent of extended 'vamps' allowing him to solo at great length adding fresh colorations and percussive effects, which Davis was keen to imitate, setting up Davis perfectly for the entrance of true modal music into his own groups with the recording "Kind of Blue."
Acclaim
Miles Davis,
Randy Weston,
Keith Jarrett,
Jack DeJohnette, and
Gary Peacock all cite Jamal as a major influence in use of rhythm and space as well as his innovative use of multi-tonal melodic lines and his unique extended 'vamps'. The element of surprise is an important part of Jamal's improvisations to them all.
At the Pershing: But Not for Me
(1958) is considered a jazz classic. The Ahmad Jamal trio played on it and featured Jamal on piano,
Israel Crosby on bass, and
Vernel Fournier on drums.
Jamal's style has changed steadily over time - from the lighter, breezy style heard on his 1950s recordings to the Caribbean stylings of the 1970s and onto the large open voicings and bravura-laden playing of the nineties. Jamal has always been distinctive however for his use of space, his dramatic
crescendos, and for a very
staccato orientation with chords.
Clint Eastwood featured two recordings from Jamal's
But Not For Me
album — "Music, Music, Music" and "Poinciana" — in the 1995 movie
The Bridges of Madison County
.
The French government has inducted Ahmad Jamal into the prestigious
Order of the Arts and Letters by French Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, naming him
Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
on June 2007. Mr Jamal continues to tour extensively with his trio.
Discography
As leader
- Ahmad's Blues
(1951, 1955)
- Chamber Music of the New Jazz
(1955)
- Count 'Em 88-The Ahmad Jamal Trio
(1956) Argo
- At the Pershing: But Not for Me
(1958)
- Live at The Pershing & The Spotlight Club
(1958)
- Happy Moods
(1960) Argo
- All of You
(1961)
- Cross Country Tour 1958-1961
(1962)
- Poinciana
(1963)
- Extensions
(1965)
- Heat Wave
(1966)
- Standard Eyes
(1967)
- Tranquility
(1968) (Impulse! Records)
- The Awakening
(1970) (Impulse! Records)
- Freeflight
(1971)
- Outertimeinnerspace
(1972) (Impulse! Records)
- '73
(1973)
- Jamalca
(1974)
- Steppin Out with a Dream
(1976)
- One
(1978)
- Night Song
(1980)
- Live at Bubba's
(1980)
- Ahmad Jamal & Gary Burton In Concert
(1981)
- Digital Works
(1985)
- Live at The Montreal Jazz Festival
(1985)
- Rossiter Road
(1986)
- Crystal
(1987)
- Pittsburgh 1989
(1989)
- Live in Paris 1992
(1993)
- Chicago Revisited - Live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase
(1993)
- I Remember Duke, Hoagy & Strayhorn
(1995)
- The Essence Part 1
(1995)
- Big Byrd - The Essence Part 2
(1996)
- Nature - The Essence Part III
(1998)
- With The Assai Quartet
(1998)
- Picture Perfect
(2000)
- Ahmad Jamal à l'Olympia
(2001)
- In Search of Momentum
(2003)
- After Fajr
(2005)
- Legendary Okeh & Epic Recordings (1951-1955)
(2005)
- It's Magic
(2008)
- Poinciana - One Night Only
(2008)
Sampled by
Ahmad Jamal's music has also been sampled by many
hip-hop artists, including:
- J Dilla produced De La Soul's title track on their 1996 Stakes Is High
album. The track is primarily based on Ahmad Jamal's Swahililand
.
- "The World is Yours" by Nas has a sample of "I Love Music" by Ahmad Jamal, while the same song was also sampled by DJ Premier for "Me or the Papes", by Jeru the Damaja
- "Soliloquy of Chaos" by Gang Starr has a sample of his cover of "Misdemeanor"
- "They Say" by Common (rapper) and John Legend has a sample of "Ghetto Child". Also Homeliss Derilex used the track as a sample to the track "Unite"
- "Resurrection" by Common (rapper) contains a sample of "Dolphin Dance".
- Pete Rock produced Deda's track on his album The Original Baby Pa
. The name of the track is called "Can't Wait" and it contains a sample from Ahmad Jamal's "Dolphin Dance".
- The Jay-Z song "Feelin It" contains a sample from Ahmad Jamal's "Pastures"
- "New Hip Hop" by Binary Star features a piano lick sampled from "Poinciana".
- The song "Your My Everything" from The Awakening CD was sampled for a song called "Renaissance" by All Natural featuring the Lone Catalysts.
- "Be Your Girl" by Teedra Moses has a sample of "The Awakening" by Ahmad Jamal.
- By Edan on the song "Key. Bored" from the album Primitive Plus. The song used is "Surrey with a Fringe on Top" from Live at the Pershing.
- A portion of "Extensions" from Outtertimeinnerspace
was sampled by Madlib for the song "Bluffin"' on Quasimoto The Unseen
.
- The World Is A Ghetto was sampled by DJ Premier for Fat Joe's "The Sh*t Is Real"
- Ahmad Jamal's "Theme Bahamas" is sampled by DJ Premier for Nas' "I Gave You Power"
- DJ Cam sampled "I Love Music" for "Hip Hopera" on his album "Mad Blunted Jazz".
References
- Jazz Profiles from NPR Ahmad Jamal
- Ahmad Jamal
- Ahmad Jamal at All About Jazz
- Toronto Jazz Festival - Festival Events