RIP - Ahmad Jamal

[16251]

 

[re Pete]

RIP. Was it Leonard Feather who said he didn't play real jazz?

BS.

[Mark Schmieder]

One of my three favorite jazz pianists, alongside Brubeck and Jarrett. Very sad, but he lived a good long life. I knew his bass player, who was dating a good friend of mine. I just texted her to let her know (as did all of her Berklee classmates and bandmates past and present, it seems).

[Mark Schmieder]

https://www.npr.org/2023/04/16/846207919/ahmad-jamal-obituary

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/04/16/ahmad-jamal-jazz-pianist-poinciana-dead/

[jazzpiano88]

Interviewers have asked him why he didn't have the traditional long experience as a sideman and then progressing to make his mark.

The reason is that his long experience as a sideman was finished by the time he was 20.

[Docbop]

So sad was a great musician loved his playing. 

 

Miles always wanted Ahmad in his band, but they could never work out the timing to make it work.    Miles said Ahmad was the one guy that thought the most like he did.  

[jazzpiano88]

1 hour ago, re Pete said:

RIP. Was it Leonard Feather who said he didn't play real jazz?

BS.

 

Leonard Feather, not withstanding, Nate Hentoff is watching Ahmad in this video.

[Moonglow]

Oh man… I’m not a jazz guy by any stretch, but his playing was absolutely gorgeous. He put chords together I could only dream of. Thank you for sharing your voice, Mr. Jamal. RIP

 

Poinciana, of course.

 

 

[Mark Schmieder]

Nice to see that clip with Jim on bass. He was on partial hiatus from the band at that point, in terms of studio work. That might have been around the time that he let me hear a sneak preview of some work he was doing with a Chicago soul artist, on bass guitar. Although I think that was earlier, as Jim got taken a bit off-guard when Ahmad decided to use a rotating cast of bassists for a few years, then it was a return to the long-lived trio a few years later. That Ahmad waited so long to vary from his regular line-up is in itself unusual for jazz artists. It's interesting to see additional percussionists in this clip. Usually, people are doing double-duty. Maybe it's because this was a festival show. Ahmad gigged practically every night of the calendar year, so it's amazing he had such stable personnel overall.

[ProfD]

D8mn. He was my favorite living Jazz pianist.

 

Don't know how many times I've watched that video of "DTD". He was too hip for the room. Played the same way when I saw him at Blues Alley.

 

He had his own voice  Masterful. Thanks for the music. RIP Mr. Ahmad Jamal. 😎

[KuruPrionz]

I never saw Ahmad Jamal live but my brother started bringing home his records about 53 years ago and we loved to listen to his music. Rest In Peace Ahmad.

 

[Al Quinn]

RIP Amand Jamal. Such a brilliant and influential artist! I’m glad I had the good fortune to see him play live.

[Mark Zeger]

3 hours ago, Mark Schmieder said:

I knew his bass player, who was dating a good friend of mine. I just texted her to let her know (as did all of her Berklee classmates and bandmates past and present, it seems).

Jimmy Cammack? Before joining Ahmad, he was the bassist in a band with my piano teachers (Frank & Dennis Richmond) and guitar teacher (Tony DePaolo). That was in the mid-late 70s.

[Mark Schmieder]

1 hour ago, Mark Zeger said:

Jimmy Cammack? Before joining Ahmad, he was the bassist in a band with my piano teachers (Frank & Dennis Richmond) and guitar teacher (Tony DePaolo). That was in the mid-late 70s.

 

Oh wow, that's really far back! Jim's a great guy. So glad he got to meet my pianist mother and flutist father before my Mom passed and before my Dad developed arthritis and had to stop playing both flute and piano. We had him over for dinner a couple of times when he swang up Boston way to accompany one of Karen's jazz concerts at the Holiday Inn (I forget which one, and might have the hotel chain wrong -- it's so long ago, and I already lived in California by then).

 

It's interesting that Jim lists Israel as one of his three most influential bassists, so I guess he had his eye on Ahmad as a future gig all along.

[Mark Schmieder]

The song that I didn't finish producing in time for our COVID compilations here at Keyboard Corner, is the one that is most heavily influenced by Ahmad. When I read some of the interview snippets in those two obits I posted above, it was an eerie feeling as I had somehow absorbed those aspects of how Ahmad works with melody, harmony, improvisation, etc., without ever having heard him verbalize it in any way. The song is called Homage to Ahmad, and now I feel I must get it released as a tribute.

[zephonic]

RIP Maestro

[niacin]

I was fortunate to see Ahmad Jamal in 2009 at the Sydney Opera House.  He had James Cammack, Herlin Riley and Manolo Badrena with him.  They were grins ear to ear the whole night, as was I.  The interplay was magical.  At nearly 80 years old his technique was as fine as ever and his sense of touch unsurpassed in the jazz world.  Hands down the best musical performance I've witnessed.  I have most of his recordings, with The Awakening and Nature: The Essence Part 3 my favourites along with the original Live at the Pershing and the other live recordings he made at that time.  RIP.

[sleepwalk]

Miles said he learned a lot from him and his use of space. The space in between the notes says as much as the notes themselves.

 

Saw him at the old Yoshi's in Oakland in the 90s. Beautiful music. RIP Ahmad

[Analogaddict]

One of my favorites. His use of space is outstanding, and then when he comes in full force… Mesmerizing. I wish I'd seen him live but there was never an opportunity. 

[Legatoboy]

RIP AJ .... 

[marino]

Shit, another great one has gone. If someone doesn't love Ahmad Jamal, he probably has had a difficult childhood.

His pianism is a marvelous blend of keyboard chops and deep soul; he gave people a whole lot of musical pleasure. An important turning point was probably Rossiter Road, with its "acoustic fusion" feel. Many critics dismissed it, but I loved it - in fact, it was the soundtrack for some of the beautiful moments in my life. RIP sweet soul.

[timwat]

I remember hearing an interview with him on NPR, I only caught a short snippet where he noted that he always seemed to end up with New Orleans drummers. Something about coming up in that scene that provided the feel he was looking for.

[Floyd Tatum]

RIP.   I've always thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Jamal's playing.

 

[Al Quinn]

Ahmad’s Cross Country Tour is one of my favorite recordings. His use of dynamics, textures, layers, and hand independence to tell his stories knocks me out! 
 

 

 

[cedar]

For whatever reason, my music collection has always lacked enough Ahmad Jamal.  Only albums I have are "Ahmad's Blues" and "Ahmad Jamal at his best."

 

Anyone aware of good box sets that don't include those albums? ("Ahmad Jamal at his best" may be a collection itself).

[Floyd Tatum]

23 hours ago, Dave Ferris said:

A recent interview on a podcast from Steinway.

 

https://www.steinway.com/soundboard/soundboard-ahmad-jamal?fbclid=IwAR1HAjme-pHbbm6VGYCVnPbO0QPmJDlQd4SC54cXXUBPw1u7_QRuN6MLBRY

 

Is Ahmad really pronounced "Ok-med"?  Or was that some kind of weird in-joke?

[Floyd Tatum]

1 hour ago, Dave Ferris said:

You know that's actually the first time I've ever heard it pronounced like that myself, so I don't know.

 

Ahmad pronounces it that way when referring to himself by name, at 15:58.   Perhaps it's an Arabic pronunciation.    A lot of the jazz guys of that era "went arabic".

 

[Mark Schmieder]

I know a lot of Afghans and the "h" is pronounced that way, which I thought was a language thing but it may be more of an historical thing from Arabic that filtered into the languages of heavily Islamic nations over time.

[GovernorSilver]

Tribute episode from the Open Studio guys

 

 

[zephonic]

On 4/17/2023 at 9:07 AM, marino said:

An important turning point was probably Rossiter Road, with its "acoustic fusion" feel. Many critics dismissed it, but I loved it

 

+1

 

It's the first Ahmad Jamal record I ever heard.