CD1
1. We Kiss in a Shadow
2. Sweet and Lovely
3. The Party's Over
4. Love For Sale
5. Snow Fall
6. Broadway
7. Willow Weep For Me
8. Autumn Leaves
9. Isn't It Romantic?
10. The Breeze and I
11. Time On My Hands
12. Angel Eyes
13. You Go to my Head
CD2
1. Star Eyes
2. All of You
3. You're Blasé
4. What Is This Thing Called Love?
5. Medley: I'll Take Romance/My Funny Valentine
6. Like Someone in Love
7. Falling in Love with Love
8. The Best Thing For You
9. April In Paris
10. The Second Time Around
11. Darn That Dream
12. Two Different Worlds
13. Night Mist Blues
14. On Green Dolphin Street
Ahmad Jamal - Piano
Israel Crosby - Bass
Vernel Fournier - Drums
I am old enough to remember
the time when, after the Second World War,
desperate jazz fans tuned in to the American
Forces Network because it played jazz that
you seldom heard on British radio. My Father
bought an early model of a reel-to-reel tape
recorder, and I recall his recording an exceptional
pianist we heard on AFN. My Dad only caught
part of his name - "Jamal" - but his playing
was a revelation.
Unlike some other pianists,
Ahmad Jamal was a consummate artist in using
space, as this double CD illustrates. It contains
two live sessions recorded in 1961 - the first
at Ahmad Jamal's own club, the Alhambra in
Chicago; the second at the Blackhawk in San
Francisco. This was three years after Ahmad
burst on the scene with an album recorded
at the Pershing Hotel in Chicago. I can thoroughly
recommend that album (although be careful
which version you buy: it has been released
with anything between eight and 19 tracks!).
The Pershing album was by
the same trio as you can hear on this double
album, so the members knew each other well
and played together with complete empathy.
Jamal is certainly not an easy pianist to
accompany, as he switches without warning
from quiet passages (or even complete silence)
to sudden outbursts on the piano. And yet
the impetus keeps going, even when Ahmad is
not actually playing. The whole trio sets
a rhythm so firmly that it stays in your head.
Israel Crosby maintains a steady beat which
holds things together even when Jamal suddenly
changes what he is doing. In fact Crosby's
beat is often so strong as to sound like thumping
(e.g. in The Party's Over) but it emphasises
the rhythm tellingly. I suspect that Vernel
Fournier was adding to the effect by playing
four-in-a-bar on the bass drum, like most
drummers used to do.
Bill Evans is frequently
credited with revolutionising the piano trio
by incorporating the bass and drums as equal
participants with the piano, but Ahmad Jamal
was already doing this in his work at the
Pershing, Alhambra and Blackhawk. A good example
of this occurs in the very first track - We
Kiss in a Shadow (not "the Shadow",
as the sleeve gives it) - where the piano
lays out for some while, leaving the bassist
to keep the melody going. And drummer Vernel
Fournier is a vital part of the sound - particularly
by his inventive use of the tomtoms and his
steady beat on the cymbals. Hear how he sets
up a marching rhythm beneath The Breeze
and I.
Meanwhile Ahmad Jamal varies
the music by a host of devices, including
not only his long pauses but also by a variety
of runs (which are as impressive as those
of Art Tatum) and setting up riffs which derive
from the melody despite often being entirely
unexpected. And the melody is crucially important
to Ahmad: his improvisations seldom stray
too far away from the tune. This makes his
playing accessible to every kind of listener
- but it doesn't stop him throwing in all
kinds of quirky quotations (for example, I
Got It Bad in You Go to my Head
and Mairzy Doats in All of You).
Sadly Israel Crosby died
the year after these recordings were made,
and Vernel Fournier died in 2000. But Ahmad
Jamal is still going strong and playing brilliantly.
If you don't know his work, you should explore
it. This album is as good a place as any to
start.
Tony Augarde
CD Reviews
Jazz
Lips JL 759
