Ahmad Jamal

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Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal performing with bassist James Cammack.
Ahmad Jamal performing with bassist James Cammack.
Background information
Born July 2, 1930 (1930-07-02) (age 77)
Origin Flag of the United States Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genre(s) Jazz, bebop
Occupation(s) Pianist, composer
Instrument(s) Piano
Label(s) Argo, Atlantic

Ahmad Jamal (born on July 2, 1930)[1] 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 well-known 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.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Ahmad Jamal was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.; his birth name was Frederick Russell Jones (he changed it later, after converting to Islam). 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, who he describes as greatly influencing him.

Jamal began touring with George Hudson's Orchestra. His first album Ahmad's Blues was recorded in 1951 on the Okeh label. He soon began touring with another group known as The Four Strings, which was soon disbanded. Following this, Jamal created The Three Strings in 1951, with bassist Israel Crosby and guitarist Ray Crawford. Crawford was replaced with drummer Vernel Fournier in 1958, 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. Jamal has also recorded with saxophonist George Coleman on the album The Essence.

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 need to be tuned between sets due to the percussive nature of his playing.[citation needed]

[edit] Acclaim

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. The element of surprise is an important part of Jamal's improvisations to them all.

"Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not for Me" 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 sides 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 album But Not For Me — "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.

[edit] Discography

[edit] 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
  • "They Say" by Common (rapper) and John Legend has a sample of "Ghetto Child".
  • "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 The Awakening CD was sampled for a song called "Renaissance" by All Natural featuring the Lone Catalysts.
  • "In All The Wrong Places" by Kero One contains a sample of "Dolphin Dance" from The Awakening CD.
  • "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.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fitzgerald, Greg. Jazz Profiles from NPR Ahmad Jamal. NPR.org. Retrieved on 2007-05-20.
  2. ^ Ahmad Jamal
  3. ^ Ahmad Jamal at All About Jazz