Ahmad Jamal

[Big Wheel]

Ahmad Jamal is perhaps the one pianist--maybe the one artist--I never miss when he's in town. I caught him tonight at the Regattabar with longtime collaborator James Cammack on bass and Idris Muhammad on drums. My reaction to the show was sort of conflicted, but that's for another day.

The one thing that really strikes me about Jamal's playing is how different his style is now, compared to how he was playing in the 1950s. The basic touch and rhythmic feel is still there, but his style totally changed--wide open, much more orchestral and dramatic, using way more technique, incorporating modalism, etc. (Chucho Valdes and Jacky Terrasson, to my ears, definitely seem to have paid a lot of attention to later-period Jamal.) Harmonically speaking, it really seems like a lot of McCoy Tyner (and to a lesser extent, perhaps, Herbie Hancock) seeped into Jamal at some point. Or do I have it ass backwards? Were these tendencies already in Jamal's playing before Tyner and Hancock ever hit the scene?

[JSngry]

They might not have been tendencies, but I do think they were implications.

[JohnS]

I'm not up on recent Jamal. The last record I heard (quite a while ago) was very disappointing. Nothing particularly original, he didn't display the eloquent minmalism of his early trio recordings which for me made his playing so attractive. I played "Cross Country Tour" a day or so ago, that's the Jamal for me.

[JSngry]

A few weeks ago, I was watching the Baalbeck DVD, and was struck by how Jamal's music really offers a totally different concep of jazz improvisation. It's not so much about playing the head and then going of into a series of solos as it is about constantly playing/paraphrasing the melody in different ways, and the improvisational element comes not just from the lead voice, but from the trio as a whole. In other words, the nature of his music is focused more on spontaneous arrangement than spontaneous composition. It's at once less and more complicated than the usual approach to jazz improvisation, and it's an approach that I think that most jazz musicians couldn't handle for any sustained period of time.

[Big Wheel]

A few weeks ago, I was watching the Baalbeck DVD, and was struck by how Jamal's music really offers a totally different concep of jazz improvisation. It's not so much about playing the head and then going of into a series of solos as it is about constantly playing/paraphrasing the melody in different ways, and the improvisational element comes not just from the lead voice, but from the trio as a whole. In other words, the nature of his music is focused more on spontaneous arrangement than spontaneous composition. It's at once less and more complicated than the usual approach to jazz improvisation, and it's an approach that I think that most jazz musicians couldn't handle for any sustained period of time.

This is what's come to frustrate me about seeing him live, I think. He does the same 7 or 8 tunes every time, it seems, and so much time passes between shows that I can never tell how each arrangement is different. Cammack and Muhammad have been with him so long that they probably can handle any curveballs thrown their way, but to one who doesn't have too many records of his, it just looks like they've rehearsed the shit out of it and are just executing arrangements that have already been well-scripted.

[Jazz Kat]

I prefer classic Jamal from the 50's. I remember my drum teacher brought in But NOt For Me, and I asked if I could borrow it, I loved it so much.

[jazzbo]

I haven't explored the lat decade or two of studio material, but I've live material that is PHENOMENAL. As you say Jim, he has a unique approach. . .he's unique.

[jazzbo]

And I love the 50s material immensely. . . just not exclusively!

[JSngry]

BTW, that Baalbeck DVD comes highly recommended, and not just for the music. There's some nice interviews with the players (including a longer-than-expected one w/Jamal), some footage of getting to and setting up for the gig which allows you to see the venue in the daylight, plus some views of said venue by night.

NEver heard of this place before (I know, damn provincial American... ) but good lord, what an INTERESTING place to play a jazz gig!

[sidewinder]

Certainly one of the best and most consistent live performers I have heard. His sense of time is something else. In terms of recordings, I agree with the earlier comment that the 'Cross Country Tour' is the one to get.

[Nate Dorward]

The recent In Search Of / Momentum 1-10 on Dreyfus is excellent. Good tunes, too.

[king ubu]

Another big fan of "Cross Country Tour" (and "Ahmad's Blues", which has a few more of those great sides with Crosby/Fournier), I haven't checked out too much of Jamal's recent stuff.

I saw him once live, though, back in 2001, and he was pretty good. The trio was the one mentioned above (Cammack/Muhammad) and Muhammad had some great things going on that night. Jamal, indeed, did a lot of what Jim describes above.(*) This did, sometimes, end up in a terrific groove, sometimes end up in a dead-end, though. However, after half an hour, George Coleman was added for almost an hour more (looooooong festival set, almost 90 minutes) and that was something else! To see the man whom I've loved since my teens, knowing him from the Miles 1964 Concert twofer... that was a great night! And Jamal had to do a couple of things outside his usual bag with Coleman there, too.

(*) the Jamal trio as an "inside" edition of what "The Necks" do? Just a thought, maybe totally off mark...

[Free For All]

I really have been enjoying the recent reissue of Chamber Music of the New Jazz.

What is particularly interesting is to listen to the original version of New Rhumba and realize what Gil borrowed from it for his arrangement on Miles Ahead. Listen to those two versions back-to-back for a fascinating lesson in arranging.

[JSngry]

"borrowed"?

[Larry Kart]

"It's not so much about playing the head and then going of into a series of solos as it is about constantly playing/paraphrasing the melody in different ways, and the improvisational element comes not just from the lead voice, but from the trio as a whole."

That's exactly what I hear, Jimm and it is kind of rare and/or not not easy to bring off. Two younger pianists who seem to have zeroed in on that aspect of Jamal, I think, are Bruce Barth and Fred Hersch -- especially the former's "Don't Blame Me" (Double Time), with Ed Howard and Billy Drummond, and the latter's "Dancing in the Dark" (Chesky), with Drew Gress and Tom Rainey.

[Dave James]

There's some old B&W Jamal footage on the DVD, "The Greatest Jazz Films Ever", that features his trio w/Crosby & Fournier playing some of the smoothest, most listenable piano jazz I can recall running into. The two tunes they do are "Darn That Dream" and "Amhad's Blues". That segment of the film also features a collection of luminaries including Ben Webster, Vic Dickenson, George Duvivier, Buck Clayton and Jo Jones who do a nice version of Chelsea Bridge. Hank Jones is part of that group too. After they're done, they all gather around the piano while Jamal is playing and they are obviously digging what he's doing. Can't say as I blame 'em...there's some mighty fine stuff going on there.

Up over and out.