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Posted

This afternoon I was watching more carefully the Ahmad Jamal segment from the DVD that came out last year, The Greatest Jazz Films Ever. Evidently this segment was from a TV program called "Jazz From Studio 61." The first piece of the Jamal segment is "Darn that Dream."

The producers of the DVD obviously didn't know the title of the second piece. For lack of anything else to call it, they called it "Ahmad's Blues." But it's obviously not the "Ahmad's Blues" that we know best from Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet. In fact, it's not a blues.

Now it was a real revelation some years ago when I discovered on one of Dakota Staton's LPs a 32 bar, AABA tune called "Night Mist." I had always thought to myself that--whether 8 bars or 12 bars--Jamal's "Night Mist Blues" didn't sound like a blues, and when I discovered Staton's recording I realized he had taken the A part of "Night Mist," turned it into a self-contained piece, and called it "Night Mist Blues."

With this second piece that he played on that television program it kind of sounds to me like he took the A part of "Sweet and Lovely" and did the same thing. Not as sure though about that as I am about what's going on in "Night Mist Blues."

Anyway, is anyone who has this DVD otherwise familiar with this piece and know what the real title is? Or is there some Jamal discographical source that has it?

Posted

Yeah, I'm wondering a bit about this too.

I don't think this is the same as Jamal's

own Ahmad's Blues, but I'm gonna have to hunt

down the recording to really compare.

He does do Sweet and Lovely on Alhambra tho.

Anyway, those who don't have the video,

I've uploaded the audio portion here.

Rod

Posted

This afternoon I was watching more carefully the Ahmad Jamal segment from the DVD that came out last year, The Greatest Jazz Films Ever. Evidently this segment was from a TV program called "Jazz From Studio 61." The first piece of the Jamal segment is "Darn that Dream."

The producers of the DVD obviously didn't know the title of the second piece. For lack of anything else to call it, they called it "Ahmad's Blues." But it's obviously not the "Ahmad's Blues" that we know best from Workin' With the Miles Davis Quintet. In fact, it's not a blues.

Now it was a real revelation some years ago when I discovered on one of Dakota Staton's LPs a 32 bar, AABA tune called "Night Mist." I had always thought to myself that--whether 8 bars or 12 bars--Jamal's "Night Mist Blues" didn't sound like a blues, and when I discovered Staton's recording I realized he had taken the A part of "Night Mist," turned it into a self-contained piece, and called it "Night Mist Blues."

With this second piece that he played on that television program it kind of sounds to me like he took the A part of "Sweet and Lovely" and did the same thing. Not as sure though about that as I am about what's going on in "Night Mist Blues."

Anyway, is anyone who has this DVD otherwise familiar with this piece and know what the real title is? Or is there some Jamal discographical source that has it?

The video I have of that broadcast is of a Studio 61 show that combined a mainstream combo group that included Ben Webster, Buck Clayton, Hank Jones, Jo Jones, etc., with separate pieces performed by the Ahmad Jamal Trio (with Israel Crosby & Vernell Fournier). There are three pieces performed by the trio, "Darn That Dream", "Excerpt from the Blues" and "Jim Loves Sue". Since the 2nd piece you have is "not a blues", perhaps it's the "Jim Loves Sue" number although I confess I haven't watched this video in some time and therefore am not certain whether or not this piece is a blues. Hope that's helpful.

Posted

The DVD that Lades is mentioning (I think)

has Darn That Dream followed by "Ahmad's Blues"

and then the camera does a slow pan

over to the ensemble that you mentioned.

They do Chelsea Bridge and Duke's Place.

Posted

The video I have of that broadcast is of a Studio 61 show that combined a mainstream combo group that included Ben Webster, Buck Clayton, Hank Jones, Jo Jones, etc., with separate pieces performed by the Ahmad Jamal Trio (with Israel Crosby & Vernell Fournier). There are three pieces performed by the trio, "Darn That Dream", "Excerpt from the Blues" and "Jim Loves Sue". Since the 2nd piece you have is "not a blues", perhaps it's the "Jim Loves Sue" number although I confess I haven't watched this video in some time and therefore am not certain whether or not this piece is a blues. Hope that's helpful.

Thanks to rostasi for taking the trouble to upload that piece I asked about...and especially to MartyJazz for sharing the information about the full video. On the version that's included on Greatest Jazz Films Ever, after "Darn That Dream" the screen goes black for an instant before the trio comes back with the piece I asked about. So after I read MartyJazz's post I thought, "yeah, they eliminated 'Excerpt from the Blues' and came back with 'Jim Loves Sue.'"

But when I listened to "Jim Loves Sue" from Count 'Em, I was disappointed that it was not the piece on the DVD that rostasi and I have. But I started looking at other Jamal albums and found one, Happy Moods, that I bought during a period, years ago, when I was buying LPs in quantities that I couldn't possibly keep up with. I don't think I had ever listened to that LP. I stopped short when I noticed that it has a track, "Excerpt from the Blues." I listened and voila, that is the piece they do on the DVD rostasi and I have. I'm delighted to have had that piece identified.

I still feel that it has no blues changes, and that it makes me think of the A part of "Sweet and Lovely." And since rostasi went to the trouble to upload the version they do on the DVD, it's up there for anyone to listen to and see if they agree with me.

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