Ahmad Jamal

Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones on July 2, 1930) is a highly-regarded American jazz pianist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began using the name 'Ahmad Jamal' after his conversion to Islam in the early 1950s.

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.

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. See Keith Jarrett's DVD "The Art Of Improvisation" which has extensive interviews with Jarrett, DeJohnette, and Peacock.

"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 Vernell Fournier on drums.

Jamal scored a major hit in his version of Poinciana, recorded while live on tour from The Pershing nightclub in Chicago. His style has changed steadily over time - from the lighter, breezy style heard on his 1950s sides to the funk + 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.

In addition to being an excellent pianist, Jamal is also very adept with both the Rhodes electric piano and the Wurlitzer 200 electric piano.

For a time in the 1960s and '70s Jamal ran his own nightclub in Chicago called "The Alhambra".

Ahmad Jamal, while dismissed early in his career as a cocktail stylist, has since gone on to be recognized as one of the all-time greatest jazz pianists.

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. Since the 1996 release of Big Byrd: The Essence, part 2, Jamal's first album to feature saxophone, he has also performed regularly with saxophonist George Coleman.

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.
Contents

* 1 Sample
* 2 Sampled by
* 3 Discography
* 4 External links

Sample

* Download sample of "It's the Good Life (152kB)"

Sampled by

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 Jamal.
"They say" by Common (rapper) and John Legend has a sample of "ghetto child".


Discography:

* Ahmad's Blues (1951)
* Live At The Pershing & The Spotlight Club (1958)
* Cross Country Tour 1958-1961 (1962)
* Poinciana (1963)
* Extensions (1965)
* The Awakening (1970)
* Freeflight (1971)
* '73 (1973)
* Jamalca (1974)
* 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)
* Ahmad Jamal à l'Olympia (2001)
* In Search Of Momentum (2003)
* After Fajr (2005)
* Legendary Okeh & Epic Recordings (1951-1955) (2005)

External links:

* Ahmad Jamal Official Homepage
* Ahmad Jamal - Fan Information
* Ahmad Jamal complete discography
* A Fireside Chat with Ahmad Jamal
* Ahmad Jamal Radio Interview With Chris Comer Nov. 21 2006
* Ahmad Jamal at the All Music Guide

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.