Jazz Articles about Ahmad Jamal

Ahmad Jamal: After Fajr

by AAJ Staff
August 26, 2005

Ahmad Jamal's been making music for over fifty years, yet somehow he's still saddled with a tag as one of Miles Davis' favorite pianists. It's long since time critics put that reference to rest and aimed their focus directly at the master and his music. Jamal has a talent for placing melody front and center, but he always frames it in a bright, sparkling rhythmic context. For Jamal, a fresh delivery is as important as the notes themselves, and After ...

Ahmad Jamal: After Fajr

by AAJ Staff
June 29, 2005

That a Japanese mountaineer successfully scaled Mount Everest in May 2008, at the age of 75, is proof that age is no barrier to those with new goals to conquer. If pianist Ahmad Jamal, at 78, were a mountaineer, he too would surely be attempting to scale Everest. There are those, however, who argue that Ahmad Jamal reached a creative peak in the late '50s, but the truth is that Jamal is neither better nor worse than when he recorded ...

The Venerable Ahmad Jamal

by R.J. DeLuke
March 13, 2004

Ahmad Jamal settles into a comfortable chair in his office at home, relaxed and ready to field questions, which he does with both a firmness and a calm ease; not unlike nestling his body onto a nightclub piano stool and taking a relaxed breath before embarking on a performance that will take the patrons off to another place ' a sweet and swinging place. He exudes a warm presence and handles everything even-handedly, but with total candor. He's confident and ...

Ahmad Jamal: In Search Of... Momentum

by AAJ Staff
August 25, 2003

Though there are and have been pianists similarly influenced by Ahmad Jamal and Bud Powell – for starters, McCoy Tyner – without Jamal alone, there might not also have been a Keith Jarrett or Matthew Shipp. Why Jamal's “out there" tendencies has gone underappreciated by both straight-ahead and avant garde camps, is beyond comprehension. Of the ten tracks on In Search Of, six are originals, with the CD freshly starting off with five. In typical Jamal fashion, percussive ...

Ahmad Jamal: In Search Of... Momentum

by Farrell Lowe
May 4, 2003

Ahmad Jamal's In Search Of... Momentum is a sterling example of the finest elements of a jazz piano trio. This band is so tight, it sounds like they grew up together. Listen, for example, to the flawless execution of the unison bass parts between James Cammack's acoustic renderings and Jamal's left-hand figures--it's like they're connected at the hip!

Likewise, drummer Idris Muhammad is unobtrusive, but always where he needs to be. A great trio sounds like it's one ...

Ahmad Jamal: In Search Of... Momentum

by Jim Santella
May 4, 2003

Ahmad Jamal learned to play piano at age 3 and started his professional career at age 11. His dynamic use of volume control, his swinging enthusiasm, and the manner in which his superb keyboard technique dresses up a melody all contribute to the artist’s continued success. His classic “Poinciana” has become a major landmark in the history of jazz and popular music. At 72, Jamal remains as fresh as ever. In Search Of ... Momentum [1-10] represents the first in ...

A Fireside Chat With Ahmad Jamal

by AAJ Staff
April 18, 2003

Is Ahmad Jamal a legend? Hello, are the Miller Lite chicks hot? Yes. Jamal is nothing if not humble about it all. Refreshing in a world dominated by “show me the money" / “show me the camera" hams. But I guess it is because he is old school, the days when milk was a quarter, TV was black and white, and jazz was the music of the popular culture. And this is why I am so stunned we can make ...