Ahmad Jamal

Ahmad Jamal

Mr. Jamal was born (Frederick Russell Jones) on July 2, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A child prodigy who began to play the piano at the age of 3. He began formal studies at age 7. While in high school, he completed the equivalent of college master classes under the noted African-American concert singer and teacher Mary Caldwell Dawson and pianist James Miller. He joined the musicians union at the age of 14, and he began touring upon graduation from Westinghouse High School at the age of 17. He drew critical acclaim for his solos. In 1950, he formed his first trio, The Three Strings. Performing at New York's The Embers club. Record Producer John Hammond "discovered" The Three Strings and signed them to Okeh Records (a division of Columbia, now Sony, Records).

Ahmad Jamal, is a noted American jazz pianist. Jamal was one of Miles Davis' favorite pianists and was a key influence on Miles Davis' "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.

In 1951, Mr. Jamal first recorded "Ahmad's Blues" on Okeh Records. His arrangement of the folk tune "Billy Boy", and "Poinciana", also stem from this period. In 1955, he recorded his first Argo (Chess) Records album that included "New Rhumba". Excerpts From The Blues, Medley (actually I Don't Want To Be Kissed), and It Ain't Necessarily So -- all later utilized by Miles Davis and Gil Evans on the albums "Miles Ahead" and "Porgy and Bess." In his autobiography, Mr. Davis praises Mr. Jamal's special artistic qualities and cites his influence. In fact, the mid-to-late 1950's Miles Davis Quintet recordings notably feature material previously recorded by Mr. Jamal: Squeeze Me, It Could Happen To You, But Not For Me, Surrey With The Fringe On Top, Ahmad's Blues, On Green Dolphin Street and Billy Boy.

In 1970, Mr. Jamal performed the title tune by Johnny Mandel for the soundtrack of the film Mash!; and in 1995, two tracks from his hit album But Not For Me -- Music, Music, Music, and Poinciana -- were featured in the Clint Eastwood film The Bridges of Madison County.

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.

In 1994, Mr. Jamal received the American Jazz Masters award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The same year he was named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University, where he performed commissioned works the Assai String Quartet. A CD is available of these works.

Fellow pianist Harold Mabern has known Jamal since 1954, when as a nineteen year-old he was new to the Chicago music scene. He and trumpeter Booker Little heard Jamal at the Pershing, where he'd recorded in 1958 what is still the biggest-selling album of his career—At the Pershing: But Not For Me (Argo-Cadet/Chess, 1958). Mabern calls him "one of the most unique pianists. The way he can play a ballad is just impeccable. And his compositions are very, very unique." He mentions Erroll Garner, with whom Jamal's style has been compared. "If you want to see where Ahmad came from, listen to anything by Erroll Garner. [Ahmad] was still able to formulate what he learned from being around Erroll and put it into his own concept."

Jamal's uniqueness includes an ability to transform songs "on the corny side like 'Music, Music, Music' into something memorable. 'Poinciana' wasn't much better. What he did with that! He puts his mark on it and it becomes his! If you listen to Ahmad Jamal, Phineas Newborn, throw Chris Anderson in there and you'll hear the greatest pianists in the world playing any kind of music from any kind of style because between them they've got the whole thing covered from boogie woogie to Mozart. During an Ahmad concert nobody is talking. Before he's sitting down he's played three or four chords that are a masterpiece. The talking is done when the music is over."

Jamal's schedule continues to be a full one. Just back from a sold-out European tour, still with Muhammad and Cammack, he had an engagement with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra at Symphony Hall. His forthcoming CD is It's Magic (Birdology/Dreyfus, 2008), where once again he takes the title pop tune and transforms it. The CD is dedicated to producer Jean-Francois Deiber, whom he credits with "getting me back into Europe after an absence of twenty years" in 1983.

July 2, 1930  --