He couldn't touch the instrument from 1960-1995. With four sessions of reconstructive surgery and self-taught physical therapy, Amadie was once again going places, but still it was all only going on in his head. He would practice for only one minute a day and put on rubber gloves and pack his hands for an hour on ice. Finally the breakthrough! Three minutes and finally peaking at six minutes a day! Just enough time to record a meaningful song. Only first takes and one tune per month over the course of a year yielded Jimmy Amadie's debut recording at 58!

In the 1950s, Jimmy Amadie was the pianist of choice for such artists as Mel Torme, Woody Herman, Red Rodney and Charlie Ventura, and in 1960 he led the house trio at New York's Copacabana. Shortly thereafter, however, a severe case of tendinitis ended his performing career, and it is only now, after four sessions of reconstructive surgery and much physical therapy, that Amadie has recorded his first solo album, Always With Me.

But he's not merely picking up where he left off 35 years ago. "I was practicing in my head all the time I couldn't touch the instrument," he says. "I developed a harmonic approach based on my system for creating chord voicings, and I also developed a melodic approach based on tension and release: Using the tonal concept of tension and release as a foundation for improvisation has enabled me to know the differences between modal and bi-tonal concepts, and to develop a way to integrate modal, tonal and bi-tonal playing. Most players will use one or maybe two of those approaches, but to my knowledge I'm the only one who combines all three."

This type of playing does not occur all the time in Amadie's playing; the basis of his style is straight-ahead, tonal playing. However, you always hear a style that is uniquely different from that of other players. Amadie has written two instructional books that document his approach to music: "Harmonic Foundation for Jazz & Popular Music" and "Jazz Improv: How to Play It and Teach It." Now, with the release of Always With Me, Amadie proves that his philosophies result in a very personal approach to jazz, and although his style is built on a very technical foundation, one is never overtly aware of the technique. Musicality dominates Amadie's performance.

The first tune, an Amadie original titled 'What Now," incorporates all three concepts of improvisation: modal, tonal and bi-tonal. "Playing should be very personal, and it's up to each individual to choose a concept" Amadie says. "Since I lecture about jazz harmony and improvisation, it behooves me to know what the different concepts are and to incorporate them into my playing. I don't do it just to impress, though, and I don't combine all three on every tune. I play whatever is appropriate to a specific tune. On 'I'm Getting Sentimental Over You,' I stick with a tonal concept, but I wanted to get various colors of harmony so I change keys several times. Even though each key has the same number of notes, each one has its own feeling. It's like going out with different girls; each one has two ears, two eyes and a nose, but each one is an individual. So whenever I went to a different key, I would harmonize the melody a different way and voice the chords differently."

Another unique aspect of Amadie's playing is his left-hand rhythmic concept. By using short punctuations rather than long sustained tones, Amadie evokes the feeling of a rhythm section, and also creates a very open sound in which each note can be heard clearly. I want to be percussive when I'm playing, but I also play enough harmony that you always know where I am in the tune," he explains.

The end result is an album that combines freshness with familiarity as Amadie dresses old tunes in new clothes. Because of continuing physical problems with his hands, he could only record one song every four to six weeks, and there could be no retakes or overdubs. That meant that every tune had to be well thought-out beforehand, giving the music a sense of purpose often lacking in jazz recordings in which players seek to impress through mere chops displays. "I can't waste any notes," Amadie says. "Every note hurts to play, so every note means something to me."

"His technique is immaculate, his feeling for the music heartfelt and appealing -- and Amadie uses both hands well, complementing his nimble and expressive right with forceful percussive statements from his left." -- Jack Bowers