The Ahmad Jamal Trio

[Jazz Kat]

From the inner sleaves of my Ramsey Lewis records on Argo/Cadet, and from my friend who had But Not For Me Live at the Pershing, I discovered the Ahmad Jamal Trio with Israel Crosby on bass and Vernell Fournier on drums. I bought But Not For Me, Alhambra, and Angel Eyes. I really love it. I don't know much about Jamal's Argo/Cadet period with the trio with Crosby and Fournier. I was wondering if anyone knows how many albums they made together, what they are, and when or why Ahmad started using other musicians.

[Teasing the Korean]

One of his Argo albums I like a lot is a latin-tinged album called "Macanudo," with arrangements by Richard Evans. It's a large group, and I don't know if Crosby and Fournier are on it (no musicians are credited).

Just when you think you've seen all the Ahmad Jamal Argo albums, another one invariably pops up. Sadly, they're usually beat to hell. I've managed to accumulate several in good shape, though, over the years.

[Free For All]

I sure have been enjoying the reissue of this great Argo recording. Besides the great playing and arrangements (Israel Crosby and Ray Crawford, the drummerless trio) it's fascinating to hear the same version of tunes like New Rhumba that Gil Evans heard and realize how he orchestrated them for the Miles projects. Listen to this version of New Rhumba back-to-back with the Miles Ahead version sometime. Amazing stuff.

[marcello]

Jazz Kat, there is a PDF discography HERE

For me, a little Ahmad goes a long way.

[Chuck Nessa]

That trio made tons of records from 1958-1961. Good hunting.

[Jazz Kat]

One of his Argo albums I like a lot is a latin-tinged album called "Macanudo," with arrangements by Richard Evans. It's a large group, and I don't know if Crosby and Fournier are on it (no musicians are credited).

Just when you think you've seen all the Ahmad Jamal Argo albums, another one invariably pops up. Sadly, they're usually beat to hell. I've managed to accumulate several in good shape, though, over the years.

Yes, they are! My copy of But Not For Me & Angel Eyes are in very bad shape. I picked up All Of You for one dollar. But Not For Me was 5 bucks, and the music's barely audible.

[Teasing the Korean]

Yes, they are! My copy of But Not For Me & Angel Eyes are in very bad shape. I picked up All Of You for one dollar. But Not For Me was 5 bucks, and the music's barely audible.

They must have been party records back in the day. The stuff like "Poinciana" has a very hip cocktail vibe, and I mean that in a good way. Kind of strange in retrospect to think of how popular piano trios were during a time when jazz was moving far from the mainstream. Every label had a trio similar to AJ and Ramsey.

I just checked my LPs and have way more AJ than I was aware, about 10 LPs. I also checked that discography and found that "Macanudo" was recorded right around the the time he'd switched personnel in his trio, so who plays on it is anyone's guess.