Ahmad Jamal - Who Cares '2022

Tracks list

Tracklist:

1. Who Cares (03:14)
2. Ivy (04:02)
3. Billy Boy (03:00)
4. Too Late Now (02:30)
5. Little Old Lady (05:15)
6. Sophisticated Gentleman (04:13)
7. Never Never Land (03:12)
8. Ahmad's Blues (04:25)
9. I Like To Recognize The Tune (01:45)
10. Excerpts From The Blues (03:02)
11. My Funny Valentine (03:25)
12. All The Things You Are (03:13)
13. New Rhumba (02:39)
14. For All We Know (02:45)
15. I'll Never Stop Loving You (03:01)
16. I'll Remember April (02:41)
17. I'm Alone Without You (03:14)
18. Speak Low (04:53)
19. Raincheck (04:41)
20. It's You Or No One (02:30)
21. You'd Be So Easy To Love (03:19)
22. Poor Butterfly (03:39)
23. Gone With The Wind (03:24)
24. They Can't Take That Away From Me (04:45)
25. Yesterdays (02:58)
26. Tempo For Two (03:28)
27. Time On My Hands (01:35)
28. You Came A Long Way From St. Louis (03:39)
29. Lover Man Oh Where Can You Be (04:07)
30. It Might As Well Be Spring (03:27)
31. Ahmad's Waltz (04:45)
32. It's A Wonderful World (02:52)


 moreBorn in Pittsburgh on July 2, 1930, Jamal was a child prodigy and began
playing piano at age three, discovered by his uncle. By the time he was seven
years old, Jamal was studying privately with Mary Cardwell Dawson, the founder
of the National Negro Opera Company. An accomplished musician by his teens,
Jamal performed regularly in the local jazz scene and in 1949 toured with George
Hudson's Orchestra. After leaving Hudson, he joined swing violinist Joe
Kennedy's group the Four Strings, with whom he stayed until Kennedy's departure
around 1950.

After leaving the Four Strings, Jamal relocated to Chicago, where he formed his
own group, the Three Strings with bassist Eddie Calhoun and guitarist Ray
Crawford. The precursor to the later Ahmad Jamal Trio, the Three Strings would,
at different times, include bassists Richard Davis and Israel Crosby. During a
stint in New York City, the Three Strings caught the ear of legendary Columbia
record exec and talent scout John Hammond, who signed the group to the Columbia
subsidiary OKeh in 1951. During this time, Jamal released several influential
albums including Ahmad Jamal Trio Plays (also known as Chamber Music of the New
Jazz) on Parrot (1955), The Ahmad Jamal Trio on Epic (1955), and Count 'Em 88 on
Argo (1956). Some of the landmark songs recorded during these sessions include
"Ahmad's Blues" and "Pavanne," both of which had a profound impact on Miles
Davis, who later echoed the spare, bluesy quality of Jamal's playing on his own
recordings.

In 1958, Jamal took up a residency in the lounge of the Pershing Hotel in
Chicago. Working with bassist Crosby and drummer Vernell Fornier, Jamal recorded
the seminal live album Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not for Me. Comprised
primarily of jazz standards, including his definitive version of the buoyant
Latin number "Poinciana," the album showcased Jamal's minimalist phrasing and
unique approach to small group jazz, emphasizing varied dynamics and nuanced
shading as opposed to the high-energy freneticism commonly associated with jazz
of the '40s and '50s. Though somewhat misunderstood by critics at the time who
did not fully appreciate the inventive qualities of Jamal's playing, the record
proved a commercial success and remained on the Billboard album charts for over
two years -- a rarefied achievement for a jazz musician of any generation.

The smash success of Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not for Me raised the
musician's profile and allowed him to open his own club and restaurant, The
Alhambra, in Chicago in 1959. During this time, Jamal released several albums on
the Argo label including Ahmad Jamal Trio, Vol. 4 (1958), Ahmad Jamal at the
Penthouse (1960), Happy Moods (1960), Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra (1961), and All of
You (1961). Unfortunately, The Alhambra closed in 1961. The following year,
Jamal disbanded his trio, moved to New York City, and took a two-year hiatus
from the music industry.

In 1964, he returned to performing and recording. Working with a new version of
his trio that included bassist Jamil Nasser and drummer Frank Gant, with whom he
would work until 1972, Jamal recorded several more albums for Argo (later
renamed Cadet) including Naked City Theme (1964), The Roar of the Greasepaint
(1965), Extensions (1965), Rhapsody (1966), Heat Wave (1966), Cry Young (1967),
and The Bright, the Blue and the Beautiful (1968). Also in 1968, Jamal made his
Impulse Records debut with the live album Ahmad Jamal at the Top: Poinciana
Revisited. This was followed by several more Impulse releases including The
Awakening (1970), Freeflight (1971), and Outertimeinnerspace (1972), both of
which culled tracks from his appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1971.
These albums found Jamal moving toward an expansive, funk-infused style,
sometimes playing a Fender Rhodes electric keyboard. Also during the '70s, Jamal
moved to the 20th Century label and continued to release a steady stream of
albums that attracted both hardcore jazz and crossover audiences. Of his '70s
albums, both Genetic Walk (1975) and Intervals (1979) made the R&B charts.

The '80s continued to be a productive time for Jamal, who kicked off the decade
with such albums as Night Song on Motown (1980) and Live in Concert Featuring
Gary Burton (1981). After signing with Atlantic, Jamal released several
well-received albums that found him returning to his classic, acoustic small
group sound including Digital Works (1985), Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival
1985 (1985), Rossiter Road (1986), Crystal (1987), and Pittsburgh (1989).

The '90s also saw a resurgence in interest and acclaim for Jamal, who was
awarded the American Jazz Master Fellowship by the National Endowment for the
Arts in 1994. Though he never stopped interpreting standards, Jamal utilized his
own compositions more and more as the decades passed. During this period, he
delivered such albums as Chicago Revisited: Live at Joel Segal's Jazz Showcase
on Telarc (1992), Live in Paris '92 on Verve (1993), I Remember Duke, Hoagy &
Strayhorn on Telarc (1994), as well as a handful of superb releases for
Birdology including The Essence, Pt. 1 (1995), Big Byrd: The Essence, Pt. 2
(1995), and Nature: The Essence, Pt. 3 (1997).

In 2000, Jamal celebrated his 70th birthday with the concert album L'Olympia
2000 (released in October of the following year), which featured saxophonist
George Coleman. He followed up with In Search of Momentum (2003), After Fajr
(2005), It's Magic (2008), A Quiet Time (2010), and Blue Moon: The New York
Session/The Paris Concert (2012). In 2013, Jamal released the album Saturday
Morning: La Buissone Studio Sessions, featuring bassist Reginald Veal and
drummer Herlin Riley. Jamal also opened Lincoln Center's concert season that
year by performing live with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. A year later, he
delivered the concert album Live at the Olympia, June 27, 2012: The Music and
the Film of the Complete Concert, which featured Yusef Lateef. In 2017, Jamal
delivered the small group session Marseille, which included contributions from
French rapper Abd Al Malik and vocalist Mina Agossi.

In 2019, at age 89, Jamal released Ballades, a recording he called a
"French-inspired love letter to my past." Comprised of three solo compositions
-- including his first of "Poinciana" -- and three duets with longtime bassist
James Cammack, the album was issued by Harcourt through Jazz Village in
September. An archival album, Live at Midem 1981, arrived in 2021 and captured
the pianist in concert with vibraphonist Gary Burton. ~ Matt Collar

Related artists