Ahmad Jamal Plugs In: Funk, Fusion and the Fender Rhodes

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

During the politically and culturally turbulent late 1960s and '70s, many jazz musicians attempted to appeal to a younger and more diverse audience that grew up listening to artists such as James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone rather than Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington or Charlie Parker.

Miles Davis was the catalyst.

Released in 1969, Miles Davis' seminal album Bitches Brew (Columbia GP 26) fused electronic instruments and elements of rock and funk with jazz. The album was also innovative in post-production, abetted by producer Teo Macero's creative razor, not unlike George Martin's work with The Beatles. In a sense, Teo anticipated hip hop producers like Pete Rock by crafting something new from previously recorded music during post-production.

Macero talks about how he did it.



Enormously successful, Bitches Brew and Davis' albums that followed marked a turning point in contemporary jazz and the record was an incubator for a plethora of musicians, especially keyboard players. Davis alumni Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea and Joe Zawinul, as well as George Duke, helped popularize the Fender Rhodes electric piano and synthesizers in jazz and formed their own influential jazz fusion groups. Instead of club dates, these bands often performed at outdoor stadium concerts and festivals, which must have intrigued Ahmad Jamal.

Harold Rhodes and His Electric Piano

George Duke Discovers the Fender Rhodes

Jamal Plugs In

Jamal was first recorded playing a Fender Rhodes electric piano during his 1971 European tour. Outertimeinnerspace (Impulse! AS-9226 DJ) and Free Flight (Impulse! AS-9217) were recorded at the 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival.

In a 2020 article for "Sound Insights," "Ahmad Jamal Trips Out: The 20th Century Recordings," Doug Payne wrote: "He finished out his Impulse tenure with two recordings from his appearance at the 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival, Freeflight and Outertimeinnerspace, where he no doubt shocked the crowd in much the same way Dylan did back in 1965, by introducing an electric instrument into his repertoire."

Jamal typically doubled on acoustic and electric keyboards during the 1970s, often during the same song. But for a bootleg concert titled Live in Paris 1971 (Transversales Disques TRS25) recorded during the same European tour, Jamal stuck with the acoustic piano on his composition, "Manhattan Reflections."

He recorded "Manhattan Reflections" for Freeflight, on June17, 1971.



A week later, on June 25, he was recorded playing the same song on acoustic piano for the bootleg Live in Paris 1971.

Funky Orchestras and Soulful Voices

By 1973 Jamal had signed with the 20th Century label, the music subsidiary of the film company. He was virtually their only jazz artist—soul singer Barry White was the label's big star—and 20th Century allowed Jamal a great deal of artistic freedom. Throughout his career, Jamal had remarked that he had an orchestra inside his head. At 20th Century he literally had one at his command.

Jamal's ensemble expanded to include an orchestra, strings and voices. These records often featured R&B and funk songs from the 1960s. Richard Evans, who arranged the orchestra for Jamal's 1963 album Macanudo (Argo Jazz LPS-712), was also the arranger for Jamal's two 20th Century orchestral releases: Ahmad Jamal '73 (20th Century Records T-417) and Jamalca (20th Century Records T432)

According to udiscovermusic, Evans was the executive producer at Chess Records subsidiary Cadet, where in 1966 he launched a group called "The Soulful Strings," with the goal of making orchestral music funky. "Rather than churn out mushy orchestrated soup, Evans wanted to innovate. He made the different string instruments replace vocal parts and created an orchestrated, soulful pop with ambition."

"The Soulful Strings" best-selling song was "Burning Spear" from their 1967 album Groovin' with the Soulful Strings (Cadet LPS-776).



Evans later taught jazz arrangements at the Berklee College of Music.

Evans' influence is evident on Ahmad Jamal '73 (20th Century T 417) and on Jamalca (20th Century T-432).

On Ahmad Jamal '73, the pianist covers R&B songs such as War's "The World Is a Ghetto" and Stevie Wonder's "Superstition." For Jamalca, Jamal covers "Ghetto Child" and Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man," as well as "Theme from M*A*S*H."

"Trouble Man" by Marvin Gaye



While these two records have their moments and appealing to R&B and funk lovers in the mid-'70s must have seemed like a good idea, Jamal's delicate keyboard approach and subtle ensemble telepathy are too often submerged under the sweeping arrangements.

For the very enjoyable Jamal Plays Jamal (20th Century T459) Jamal is back to his familiar small ensemble, with Jamil Sulieman Nasser on bass and Frank Gant on drums, plus Azzedin Westin on percussion, along with background voices. Jamal wrote all the songs for the record, including "Swahililand," which would become a regular part of his repertoire and a magnet for hip hop artists.

For Steppin' Out With a Dream (20th Century STEC249/T515), Jamal wrote three of the five songs.

At this point, Jamal was starting to lean into his own compositions rather than mostly covering other people's music. On "Swahililand" from Jamal Plays Jamal," the artist's transition from acoustic to electric piano sounds confident and seamless.



According to AllMusic, "Jamal Plays Jamal" epitomizes the commercial leanings and pop textures that dominate Ahmad Jamal's mid-'70s fusion efforts for the 20th Century label. Though his funkiest and most accessible recording to date, it nevertheless retains the melodic invention and intricacy of his more conventional jazz records."

For Steppin' Out with a Dream, John Heard replaces Jamil Sulieman Nasser on bass, Selden Newton is on percussion and Calvin Keys plays guitar. Frank Gant is still the drummer. Jamal hadn't used a lot of guitarists since Ray Crawford, but Keys seemed to fit right in.

"Handicapper" from Steppin' Out With a Dream



Genetic Walk (20th Century Fox Records T-600), recorded in 1975 and released in 1980 and Intervals (20th Century Fox Records T-622), from 1979, appear to be compilations of unreleased tracks from the previous sessions.

Jazz purists probably didn't think much of Jamal's song, "Genetic Walk," but fans of funk and crossover jazz seemed to like it. I can appreciate its unabashed funkiness. Roger Harris is on bass with Morris Jenkins on drums, plus spooky voices and strings.

"Genetic Walk"



"You're Welcome, Stop on By," from Intervals



According to AllMusic, of Jamal's '70s albums, both Genetic Walk (20th Century T 600) and Intervals (20th Century T 622) made the R&B charts.

Jamal achieved some success in attracting new listeners, many of whom were truly enthralled with his electronic keyboard playing, orchestras and song choices, and remain so today. Jazz purists were less impressed. In reviewing Jamal's final release for 20th Century, Intervals , for AllMusic, Scott Yanow wrote:

"Ahmad Jamal's recording career became temporarily aimless as the 1970s were ending. This very forgettable LP features Jamal on both electric and acoustic piano, saddled by rather commercial arrangements. The tunes are not always bad (five are by the keyboardist), but the dated pop trappings and Jamal's near-anonymity on electric piano make this a set deserving of being quickly passed by."

Yanow might have a point. Even Rhodes fan site "Never Enough Rhodes" struggled to find anything good to say about Intervals: "In the end it's a 50-50 effort, with a couple of great funky tracks and Jamal relishing his return to the piano, on which he's always superb."

For his 1979 20th Century release, One (20th Century Fox Records T-555), Jamal was joined by a gaggle of L.A. studio musicians, as well as vocalists. With its mix of pop tunes like Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" and Steely Dan's "Black Cow," along with several Jamal songs and Sigidi Abdullah and Welton Gite's funky "One," the record once again attempts to appeal to contemporary tastes. On this set, Ahmad mostly leaves the electric keyboards to the studio musicians. Nonetheless, the title cut is noteworthy and would become a staple of Jamal's repertoire.

Some fans of both jazz and rock might have found Jamal's cover of "Black Cow"—on clavinet, no less—a little perplexing, however. Michael Melvoin is on the Moog synthesizer.



For the 1980 release, Night Song (Motown M7 945R1), recorded at Motown's Hitsville USA Studio in Los Angeles, Jamal continued to cover pop tunes, this time backed by Motown session musicians and strings. Gil Askey was the arranger. The album opens with "When You Wish Upon a Star," written by Lee Harline and Ned Washington for Disney's 1940 animated film, Pinocchio.



For his 1985 digitally recorded release Digital Works (Atlantic 781 258-1), Jamal alternates between acoustic and electric piano. He's joined by drummer Herlin Riley, percussionist Iraj Lashkary and bassist Larry Ball as he updates songs like "Poinciana," "But Not for Me" and "Misty." This set, which All Music critic Yanow called "good music overall, but not essential," was recorded at Platinum City Studios in Dallas in 1985.

Jamal subsequently moved on from the Rhodes and orchestras (for the most part) and returned to the acoustic piano and his small ensembles, sometimes augmented.

Road Warriors

The handful of notable on-location recordings Jamal released during this period are all on acoustic piano. For Live at OilCan Harry's (Catalyst Records CAT-7606) in August 1976, Jamal was joined by Calvin Keys on guitar, John Heard on double bass and Selden Newton on percussion, along with Frank Gant on drums. The one-time-use contract for the Vancouver radio station broadcast wasn't intended to cover a recording for release. Nonetheless, there's some enjoyable music on this record, including a more laid-back take on Jamal's hit "Poinciana."



AllMusic's Yanow wrote: "It is a pity that this LP is long out of print (and that the Catalyst label went out of business quite a while ago), for it gives listeners an excellent example of the playing of pianist Ahmad Jamal in the mid-1970s."

Jamal's trio for Live at Bubba's (Who's Who in Jazz WWLP 21021), recorded at the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., club in May 1980 and released in 1981, featured Sabu Adeyola on bass and Peyton Crossley on drums. They opened the set with a nice version of Bill Evans classic "Waltz for Debby." Evans died on Sept. 15, 1980.



Adeyola and Crossley were also onboard for Jamal's 1981 recording titled In Concert: Ahmad Jamal and Gary Burton (Personal Choice Records PC-51004) and in 1982 for American Classical Music (Shubra SHU 101), where they are joined by Newton. The 1981 date, recorded in Midem, France, before an enthusiastic audience adds vibraphonist Gary Burton to Jamal's ensemble. Here they are playing Sigidi Abdullah's "One" with gusto.



Released in 1982, American Classical Music (Shubra SHU 101) was recorded at The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and was re-released in 1984 as Goodbye, Mr. Evans (Black Lion Records, 1984). Saxophonist Phil Woods wrote the tender ballad in honor of the late pianist Bill Evans.

Here is Jamal's version.



For Jamal, the 1970s were a decade of trial and error, and maybe some dubious musical choices in the recording studio. Jamal wasn't the first artist to put commercial necessity ahead of his art. But as the '80s dawned, Jamal was under new management and headed in a different and more positive musical direction that didn't include a Fender Rhodes electric piano or an orchestra (for the most part).

The Universal Fire

Tracking down Jamal's 20th Century Records releases can be challenging. Most of them weren't digitized or transferred to CD and probably won't be in the future (although you can hear them on YouTube). Master tapes from countless recording sessions, including several of Jamal's, were incinerated in the historic 2008 Universal Studios fire, though Universal tried to cover up the extent of the damage for years.

A New York Times article in June 2019 written by Jodi Rosen described what was lost: "The fire destroyed Building 6197, a warehouse adjoining the King Kong attraction. In addition to more videos, it housed a huge archive containing multiple copies of audio and video recordings, documents ranging from legal papers to liner notes, and packaging materials and artwork belonging to Universal Music Group. The collection included the catalogues of UMG's West Coast labels including Chess, Decca, MCA, Geffen, Interscope, A&M, Impulse! and their subsidiary labels. Rosen estimated the individual items lost ranged from 118,000 to 175,000 album and 45-rpm single master tapes, phonograph master discs, lacquers (also known as acetates), as well as all the documentation contained in the tape boxes.

Universal disputed elements of the New York Times report.

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