Album: The Piano Scene of Ahmad Jamal
Year: 1951
Label: Epic
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "Poinciana" OR "Aki and Ukthay"
First studio album of groundbreaking bareness.
Considering the year that this album came out (1951) and what the rest of the jazz world was doing at the time (boppin' hard), this could be considered somewhat of a revolution. Except nobody really got it. Shame. The sparse trio of guitar, piano and bass creates some of the most mind boggling moments of lushness. Mind boggling because you can't understand how such a small band could create such a big, beautiful sound. Ahmad's original rendition of his signature tune "Poinciana" appears here for the first time (but it would keep popping up sporadically for the rest of his career) and it's a fine run through, though I personally prefer most versions where a drum kit is used. Amongst the rest of the album is a set of mostly standards or the pop music of the day, all of the songs receiving Ahmad's undeniable touch. Overall though, this is one of those "must have" definitive type jazz albums that most yuppy folks would own if it were available on super audio CD to impress their friends with their vast knowledge of jazz. Don't let that mislead you though. Just like Kind of Blue, A Love Supreme and a bunch of other albums that fall into the same category, it's a classic piece of music that is so good, it doesn't matter how cliched it becomes, you'll still love it.
~Austin
ABOUT THE ALBUM'S AVAILABILITY...
This album is available on CD, just under a different title and with differing cover art than the original vinyl release. The title is just Poinciana and it's available through Sony/Columbia records, I believe as one of those "bargain" releases for something like $11.98. I don't believe it's been remastered since about 1990 though.
Album: The Ahmad Jamal Trio
Year: 1955
Label: Epic
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "Love For Sale" OR "Autumn Leaves"
Standards standards standards.
Same trio as the last album: Ahmad on piano, Israel Crosby on bass and Ray Crawford on guitar. Same great playing as well. Side one is definitely more interesting here because they branch out from 2:30-4:00 song structure and actually let loose on a killer rendition of "Love For Sale" for a good five minutes or so. Ray Crawford is still playing his guitar in that really cool sounding percussive bleepy bloopy style here and it really lays down an almost groove-like rhythm for Ahmad to solo over. It would be the last abum that Ahmad employed this group of musicians and it's quite a worthy one, just sort of underwhleming after his revolutionary first album.
~Austin
Album: At The Pershing: But Not For Me
Year: 1958
Label: Argo
Producer: Dave Usher
Best song: "Poinciana" DUH!
Más estándares por favor.
This was Ahmad's big breakthrough into the world of jazz. Everybody in jazz circles knew his name after this album. And it's a fine introduction, indeed. One of his top recordings of "Poinciana" is played here and it's fantasic (which begs the question: is there a bad Ahmad Jamal rendition of the song? The answer is probably no). The trio switched for this live recording to include Ahmad on piano, Israel Crosby on bass and Vernell Fournier on drums. Overall, it's one of his signature albums, and for good reason. He plays the standards "But Not For Me," "Moonlight In Vermont" and "What's New" brilliantly, practically giving them definitive run throughs. Highly recommended.
~Austin
ABOUT THE ALBUM'S AVAILABILITY...
Criminally, this album is not available in its entirety on CD, but about three quarters of it is available on the 1998 GRP Records two disc compilation album Cross Country Tour: 1958-1961 along with a few of his following albums: At the Pershing Vol. 2, Portfolio of Ahmad Jamal, Alhambra, and At the Blackhawk. Like it does with At The Pershing: But Not For Me, Cross Country Tour: 1958-1961 trims those albums of a few tracks as well. The original album also appeared under two different titles: just plain old But Not For Me and Live At The Pershing, Vol. 1. Confused yet?
Album: Live At The Pershing, Vol. 2
Year: 1958
Label: Cadet
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "All The Things You Are" OR "Poor Butterfly"
Second night's performance.
This album comes from the second night of performances from the group's residency at the Pershing Hotel on Chicago's south side. Their previous album was the first night's performance. This one, while lacking an all out stunner like "Poinciana" on the first volume, is another very productive session. The same group appears and this particular group had great chemistry so they add their own swing to all the standards they play. And the entire set consists again entirely of standards but the arrangements differ so much sometimes, they may as well be originals.
~Austin
Album: The Ahmad Jamal Trio, Vol. IV
Year: 1958
Label: Argo
Producer: Dave Usher
Best song: "Taboo" OR "Should I"
It says trio, but there's actually four of them. Wait just a second...
The main group is the same but there's an uncredited percussionist that plays with the group on this superb live recording. Ahmad is really finding his niche with the stop and start and big crescendo style on this album. All standards again, but all played in unmistakeably original fashion. One of the stronger albums in the Ahmad Jamal catalogue. Highly recommended.
~Austin
ABOUT THE ALBUM'S AVAILABILITY...
This album has been issued on CD in its entirety by Chess/GRP Records under the title Ahmad's Blues along with some tracks taken from the album Portfolio of Ahmad Jamal.
Album: Jamal at the Penthouse
Year: 1959
Label: Argo
Producer: Dave Usher
Best song: "Sophisticated Gentlemen"
Oh so cool!
The trio is in fine form here but the main detractment from my enjoying the album is the orchestra accompaniment. Ahmad's music was just fine and dandy as this spare little piece of semi-minimalism. The strings are arranged well and with thought by Joe Kennedy, but this kind of thing just doesn't mesh well with Ahmad's trio. Thankfully, the strings do not accompany the band through entire songs on most of the tracks; just as accents here and there. A bad move on an otherwise valid and productive attempt at the "cool" jazz thing.
~Austin
Album: Happy Moods
Year: 1960
Label: Argo
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "Rhumba No. 2"
Keep on keepin' on.
Same trio since still banging out the standards and going strong as since But Not For Me. For the most part it's business as usual but there's actually an original tune here: Ahmad's "Rhumba No. 2." It's unfairly relegated to being the last track on the album as it stands pretty much head and shoulders when plopped right next to the rest of the album. By no means is the rest of the album even remotely weak, however. It's arguably one of Ahmad's finest recordings with this particular group.
~Austin
Album: All of You
Year: 1961
Label: Argo
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "Time On My Hands" OR "You Go To My Head"
Now jam a little longer.
The first Ahmad Jamal album where the majority of the songs were five minutes in length or longer (up to eight whole minutes on the excellent "You Got To My Head"). It was officially the 60's now and it was Ok for these guys to strech it out even further and really let loose. And this album is of significance and interest because it's really the first one where they do just that. Bassman Israel Crosby is really in top form especially and it's rewarding because this is one of the last sessions he would play with this trio.
~Austin
Album: Alhambra
Year: 1961
Label: Argo
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "We Kiss In A Shadow"
Business as usual.
Back to standards and four minute song lengths. But things are getting played more and more with that special twist of Ahmad Jamal feeling, so it doesn't even begin to start sounding samey at all. Some really great tunes appear here: "Love For Sale," "Willow Weep For Me" and "Autumn Leaves" all receive wonderful renditions. Yet another one in the "W" column. Totally unrelated, but this has awesome cover art.
~Austin
Album: At The Blackhawk
Year: 1961
Label: Argo
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "Night Mist Blues"
Again, one original tune and it blows the rest of the album away.. and this is a solid record, too!
Mostly standards but the song length is pretty much at an average of four minutes these days. This would be Israel Crosby's last album that he would appear on with this group before his death of a heart attack in the summer of 1962. It's a fine swan song for this trio and again, the one original tune ("Night Mist Blues") is relegated to "last track, side two" status and it makes the rest of the album seem not quite so good in that place (but it was no doubt put there because it had no chance for crossover). Overall, it's one of those records that I rarely listen to but enjoy more than most of the other Ahmad Jamal records from this period when I do play it.
~Austin
Album: Naked City Theme
Year: 1964
Label: Argo
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "Naked City Theme" OR "One for Miles"
Ahmad goes on hiatus and comes back out swingin'. Awesome.
This album was recorded after the biggest gap ever between Ahmad Jamal albums (well, up until that point). It finds Ahmad in a San Francisco club hitting some pretty sweet areas in his playing that were only hinted at before. Things get going right away with the title track and then right into an original with "Minor Moods" which is a stunning number that uses quick crescendos between places of subtle beauty. The section where Jamil Sulieman and Ahmad have a little conversation is especially great. Side two gets even better with the ballad "Beautiful Love" going right into the album's centerpiece, the hard bop stop and start dedication "One for Miles." It's a really heavy tune that the trio stretches out for nearly ten minutes and makes excellent use of the entire time. One of the better of the albums from this time period.
~Austin
Album: The Roar of the Greasepaint: The Smell of the Crowd
Year: 1965
Label: Argo
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "Where Would You be Withour Me?"
The trio plays the score of a Broadway musical. Not bad.
Back to shortened song lengths and no originals (though that's understandable on this album). Pretty middle of the road stuff actually. The band, while playing the songs competantly, sounds less than interested in them. And why should they be? These melodies are good --not great-- and they don't exactly lend themselves to a jazz setting all that well. It's miles ahead of the blatant vocal pop attempts just around the corner, but it's still just not all that interesting.
~Austin
Album: Extensions
Year: 1965
Label: Cadet
Producer: Dave Usher, artist
Best song: "Extensions" OR "This Terrible Planet"
My freaking dream come true: an original tune leads off the album!
An absolutely brilliant record! Just a trio again but Jamil Nasser had taken over bass duties by this point. The album contains only four songs, one of those being the epic thirteen minute title track, an Ahmad Jamal original. It's an absolute monster of a tune, going through several movements, breakdowns and crescendos. It's practically the prime example of how Ahmad Jamal took the trio format and made it sound like a much bigger band than it was through the use of dynamics and space. The rest of the album runs along the usual Ahmad Jamal territory except the tunes are not really standards as much as they are simply other folks' music. The highlight of the rest of the album is the tune "This Terrible Planet" which takes Ahmad's already sensitive and thoughtful tone and turns it completely inwards to make for an introspective-ish melancholy-ish type of groove. After the gigantic title track though, the remainder of the album, while definitely being a takeoff from the usual Ahmad Jamal rules, sounds pretty tame in comparison. This is one of those great "in trasition" albums and it's an important stepping stone for Ahmad Jamal especially because it really showed he was adapting to the times of the post-be bop jazz world quite nicely. Not an avenue he would persue as heavily as he did on this album until the turn of the decade a few years down the line. Fantastic.
~Austin
Missing album: Heat Wave (1966). Moving on...
Album: Rhapsody
Year: 1966
Label: Cadet
Producer: Dick LaPalm, artist
Best song: "Concern"
One step forward, two steps back.
Another album with string accompaniment. *sigh* A huge letdown after Extensions was such a smashing victory. Although there isn't strings on the entire album, about half of it has the band playing standards that they clearly aren't interested in. The other half of the album without the strings is quite good though. Of course the one original tune is pushed back to being the last track and it's the best song on the album. The band sounds infinitely fresh on the songs where they're not playing standards with strings (especially on McCoy Tyner's "Effendi"). Overall, it's a very frustrating listen because they will really be jamming on one track and then playing lazily along with the string arrangements on the next track. But well worth hearing for the tracks where it's just the trio.
~Austin
Album: Cry Young
Year: 1967
Label: Cadet
Producer: Dick LaPalm
Best song: Uhh... it's all so samey...
More record label concocted drivel.
With strings and a vocal choir this time. And not just on half the album --on the whole damn thing! There are two originals and they aren't pushed back to the end of the album. Hell, they even appear on side one of the album. However, it's hard to tell whether or not they're any good because the cheesy vocals are so high in the mix. Overall, it's a really corny album and one that sounds more like Lawrence Welk than Ahmad Jamal. The big point of note on this album is what would become Ahmad's best and most creatively productive trio of Ahmad on piano, Jamil Nasser on bass and Frank Gant on drums makes its debut on this album. Disappointing to say the very least.
~Austin
Album: Standard Eyes
Year: 1967
Label: Cadet
Producer: unlisted
Best song: Well, uhh, funny you should ask...
A 'Greatest Hits' collection of sorts.
A compilation of some of Ahmad's classic trio of himself, Vernel Fournier and Israel Crosby's best interpretations of standards. Everything on this album has been issued on some other album at one point or another but it's a fine collection that catches Ahmad's prime early group at some of their best moments. It's also handy because because most of the albums these songs originally appeared on are becoming more and more scarce and harder to find in listenable condition.
~Austin
Album: The Bright, the Blue and the Beautiful
Year: 1968
Label: Cadet
Producer: Richard Evans
Best song: BAH DAH BABA DAH DAH!!
Ahmad Jamal channels Lawrence Welk one last time.
Again, one original and it's drowned out by Up With People. Yuck. It's hard to tell which album is worse of these last two he did on Cadet. They're both pretty cheesy and unbearable, epsecially since you already know he's capable of so much better. Probably should be avoided.
~Austin
Album: Tranquility
Year: 1968
Label: Impulse
Producer: unlisted
Best song: "Manhattan Reflections"
The Impulse years begin... what a relief!
Although this album seemingly picks up where his last few for Cadet left off (two covers of pop songs by Burt Bacharach), the strings are gone and so are the cheesy vocals. So, upon actually hearing the two songs, you realize Ahmad is back in standard mode. He was playing the pop music of the day in the late 50's and early 60's and that's what he's doing here as well. Giving it his own twist and making the songs his own. Side one is pleasant enough and it's almost like one big sigh of relief but when the record is flipped is where you get thrown into overdrive. That's right, Ahmad Jamal circa Extensions is back with a vengence, kiddies. Kicking it off right out of the gate is the debut of his original tune, the title track "Tranquility" in a nice nine minute workout. It's a track that is properly named, as it has a sort of slow boogaloo funk feel to it but it hits just the right feelings at just the right times to make for one of his best compositions. After that is the mellow reflective obscure composition "Free Again" which is great. But, in true fashion, the best was saved for last as the song "Manhattan Reflections" receives its premier. It's a monster of a tune and one that remains in Ahmad's live setlist to this day. Absolutely stunning and a smashing return to form after a couple missteps.
~Austin
Album: At The Top: Poinciana Revisited
Year: 1969
Label: Impulse
Producer: artist
Best song: "Lament" OR "Poinciana"
Brilliant live date.
Evolving a little bit more and more away from playing the standards and more towards focusing on original compositions and branching out his less is more philosphy on every album. This one is no different and it finds Ahmad's best trio in place and gelling completely for the first time. And they're basically let alone to do whatever they want, though still playing a couple standards. But even songs like "How Insensitive" and "Theme From Valley of the Dolls" are streched out and made into something completely different than where they started. The version of "Poinciana" is particularly adventerous and sounds great when paired up with the other original tune, "Lament." A really wonderful and unpredictable album, it was available on CD for a short while but has since gone out of print. Keep an eye on www.half.com and/or www.gemm.com.
~Austin
Album: The Awakening
Year: 1970
Label: Impulse
Producer: Ed Michel
Best song: Every song is brilliant.
Post-bop masterpiece and one of the best albums ever recorded.
Well, it seemed like something big was just around the corner as Ahmad went through such a big change when he switched from one record label to another and his sound practically changed overnight. All of Ahmad Jamal's albums before this one seemed sort of manic and he would take complete 180's from album to album, but none of that would make as much sense as it does in hindsight after listening to this album. The record contains seven songs, two of those are originals and the rest of them are brilliant takes on other folks' music. Amongst the cover tunes, Ahmad tackles Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance" and like Jimi Hendrix did with "All Along The Watchtower," Ahmad takes the song and makes his version the definitive one (and Herbie's original is no joke by any means). His take on Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Wave" is absolutely brilliant, taking the bossa nova out of it completely and making it into a swinging introspective number that makes for one of the best album closers ever. And that's the great thing about this album: the whole thing retains this mellow reflective feel that was always present in Ahmad's recordings, but never as heavily as on this album. The final three songs on the album ("You're My Everything," a stunning take on Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments" where Ahmad again makes his rendition the definitive version and "Wave"), in addition to being technically incredible pieces, reach peaks of emotion not usually associated with jazz. It's an incredible piece of work and one that I can come up with a lot of single words to describe: classic, exceptional, brilliant, and most of all, absolutely essential. It's readily in print on remastered CD from Impulse Records for now, so grab this timeless classic while you can.
~Austin
Album: Freeflight
Year: 1972
Label: Impulse
Producer: Ed Michel, artist
Best song: "Manhattan Reflections" is great, but then again so's the whole thing!
The definitive Ahmad Jamal caught live at Montreux.
The same group is again captured live in a 1971 performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. The big thing here is that Ahmad doubles on acoustic piano and an electric Fender Rhodes piano, giving some of his familiar tunes different tonal shadings and taking them into completely different contexts. And all of the songs on the setlist here are familiar by this point. Simply four songs, three standards (including "Effendi", "Dolphin Dance" and a searching version of "Poinciana") and one original ("Manhattan Reflections", which absolutely brings the house down). This is prime stuff, some of the finest 70's post bop recorded. Essential.
~Austin
Album: Outtertimeinnerspace
Year: 1972
Label: Impulse
Producer: Ed Michel, artist
Best song: "Extensions"
Part two of the same Montreux performance.
This album was recorded during the same performance that is documented on Freflight. I imagine this was released as its own LP because of the length of the tunes: each song on the album takes up the length of one entire side of the LP. "Bogota" is revived and so is "Extensions" (much to my surprise!), so even though there's only two songs, they are almost performed in suite-like style, so there's much more here than there originally appears to be. Ahmad again plays Fender Rhodes, giving the songs a very spacious quality. Oddly enough, this album has never been issued on CD, while Freeflight has. Because of that, it's a bit harder to come by, but is no less essential. Pick up both records and have the entire Montreux performance. Absolutely wonderful music.
~Austin
