Ahmad Jamal

In 1951, Mr. Jamal first recorded 'Ahmad's Blues' on Okeh Records. His arrangement of the folk tune 'Billy Boy', and 'Poinciana' (not his original composition), also stem from this period. In 1955, he recorded his first Argo (Chess) Records album that included 'New Rhumba', 'Excerpts From The Blues', 'Medley' (actually 'I Don't Want To Be Kissed'), and 'It Ain't Necessarily So' —all later utilized by Miles Davis and Gil Evans on the albums "Miles Ahead" and "Porgy and Bess." In his autobiography, Mr. Davis praises Mr. Jamal's special artistic qualities and cites his influence. In fact, the mid-to-late 1950's Miles Davis Quintet recordings notably feature material previously recorded by Mr. Jamal: 'Squeeze Me', 'It Could Happen To You', 'But Not For Me', 'Surrey With The Fringe On Top', 'Ahmad's Blues', 'On Green Dolphin Street' and 'Billy Boy'.

In 1956, Mr. Jamal, who had already been joined by bassist Israel Crosby in 1955, replaced guitarist Ray Crawford with a drummer. Working as the "house trio" at Chicago's Pershing Hotel drummer Vernell Fournier joined this trio in 1958 and Mr. Jamal made a live album for Argo Records entitled "But Not For Me". The resulting hit single and album, that also included 'Poinciana' — his rendition could be considered his "signature". This album remained on the Ten Best-selling charts for 108 weeks — unprecedented then for a jazz album. This financial success enabled Mr. Jamal to realize a dream, and he opened a restaurant/club, The Alhambra, in Chicago. Here the Trio was able to perform while limiting their touring schedule and Mr. Jamal was able to do record production and community work.

Mr. Jamal was born on July 2, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A child prodigy who began to play the piano at the age of 3, he began formal studies at age 7. While in high school, he completed the equivalent of college master classes under the noted African-American concert singer and teacher Mary Caldwell Dawson and pianist James Miller. He joined the musicians union at the age of 14, and he began touring upon graduation from Westinghouse High School at the age of 17, drawing critical acclaim for his solos. In 1950, he formed his first trio, The Three Strings. Performing at New York's The Embers club, Record Producer John Hammond "discovered" The Three Strings and signed them to Okeh Records (a division of Columbia, now Sony Records).

Mr. Jamal has continued to record his outstanding original arrangements of such standards as 'I Love You', 'A Time For Love', 'On Green Dolphin Street' (well before Miles Davis!), 'End of a Love Affair', to cite a few. Mr. Jamal's own classic compositions begin with 'Ahmad's Blues' (first recorded on October 25, 1951!), 'New Rhumba', 'Manhattan Reflections', 'Tranquility', 'Extensions', 'The Awakening', 'Night Mist Blues' and most recently 'If I Find You Again', among many others..

In 1994, Mr. Jamal received the American Jazz Masters award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The same year he was named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University, where he performed commissioned works with the Assai String Quartet. A CD is available of these works.

In 1970, Mr. Jamal performed the title tune by Johnny Mandel for the soundtrack of the film "Mash!"; and in 1995, two tracks from his hit album "But Not For Me" — 'Music, Music, Music', and 'Poinciana' — were featured in the Clint Eastwood film "The Bridges of Madison County".

Mr. Jamal's CD entitled "The Essence" features tenor saxophonist George Coleman — Mr. Jamal's first recording made with a horn! Critical acclaim and outstanding sales resulted in two prestigious awards: D'jango D'or (critics) and Cloch (for sales) in France. Its success generated a concert at Salle Pleyel, and a CD has been released "Ahmad Jamal a Paris" (1992) and a second "live" concert by Mr. Jamal in l996 under the same title, unissued except in France and available on the Dreyfus Records on the Internet, Mr. Jamal rightly considers one of his best recordings. Ahmad Jamal's 70th Birthday "live" concert recording Olympia 2000, is known as "The Essence Part III". "The Essence, Part II", featured Donald Byrd on the title track, and on his CD entitled "Nature", Stanley Turrentine is featured on 'The Devil's In My Den', and steel drummer Othello Molineaux augments the trio format. Continuing his recording career, Mr. Jamal released "In Search of" on CD, and his first DVD "Live In Baalbeck".

For students of the piano, Hal Leonard Publications has published "The Ahmad Jamal Collection", a collection of piano transcriptions. Mr. Jamal continues to record exclusively for the French Birdology label, and his albums are released on Verve and Atlantic in the United States.

Mr. Jamal is an exclusive Steinway piano artist.

Mr. Jamal's 'About My Life' story in his own words:

At three years of age, my wonderful Uncle Lawrence stopped me while I was walking past the piano in my parents' living room. He was playing the piano and challenged me to duplicate what he was doing. Although I had never touched this or any piano, I sat down and played note for note what I had heard. "The rest is history."

What a thrilling ride it has been and continues to be. I was born in one of the most remarkable places in the world for musicians and people in the arts - Pittsburgh, PA. At seven years, I was selling newspapers to Billy Strayhorn's family. Billy had already left home; I didn't get to meet him until years later. Following is a partial listing of "Pittsburghers:"

George Benson
Roy Eldridge
Art Blakey
Errol Garner
Kenny Clarke
Earl "Fatha" Hines
Billy Eckstein
Phyllis Hyman
Maxine Sullivan
Gene Kelly
Stanley Turrentine
Joe Kennedy, Jr.
Earl Wild
Oscar Levant
Mary Loe Williams
Lorin Maazel
George Hudson (his orchestra was my first job away from home, I was 17 and just out of high school.) - Dodo Marmarosa
Dakota Staton
Billy Strayhorn

At seven years of age I began my studies with a wonderful woman, Mary Cardwell Dawson. In addition to her great influence on me, she was very influential in the careers of many musical personalities on a local, as well as worldwide basis. One of her students is my life long friend, violinist, Joe Kennedy, Jr. Later, while still in my teens, I began studying with James Miller, as a result of Mrs. Dawson's relocation to Washington, D.C.

After touring with George Hudson's Orchestra, I traveled to Chicago with The Four Strings, a group headed by violinist, Joe Kennedy, Jr. Unfortunately, the group disbanded because of a lack of employment and in 1951, I formed The Three Strings.

The year 1951 was the beginning of my recording career. "Ahmad's Blues," which I wrote in 1948 during my stint with a song and dance team out of East St. Louis, was one of my first recordings; "Ahmad's Blues" has been heard in the stage play, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," and recorded by Marlena Shaw, Natalie Cole, Red Garland and others. The first session also included my arrangement of the folk tune, "Billy Boy," which arrangement was copied by many of my peers. I wrote "New Rhumba" around 1951 and it has also been recorded and performed by many others, most notably Miles Davis. My most famous recording was done in Chicago in 1958 at the Pershing Hotel with two of the most talented musicians of the century, Israel Crosby and Vernell Fournier.

Five decades covering my career are most interesting to me and contain some of the historical data that you can find by clicking the indicated categories of my web page menu. What you can't find won't be available until my proposed autobiography goes to print.

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Ahmad Jamal: At The Jazz Showcase: Live In Chicago

Read "At The Jazz Showcase: Live In Chicago" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic

by Mike Jurkovic
May 5, 2026

There was something Buddha yet cool-as-all-hell about Ahmad Jamal. Who else would give the whole story away with the set-opening, barn-raising ingenuity of “Ahmad's Song"--a CV of everything Jamal--his musings on time and space; his insatiable swing-- and dares you to keep up on At The Jazz Showcase: Live in Chicago. A gig to remember, no matter what side of history it happened on, Jamal, bassist John Heard, and drummer Frank Gant take a chill, take-no- prisoners attitude at ...

Album Review

Ahmad Jamal: At The Jazz Showcase: Live In Chicago

Read "At The Jazz Showcase: Live In Chicago" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan

by Dan McClenaghan
April 30, 2026

Ahmad Jamal (1930 -2023) began his recording career in 1951, laying down the tracks to the 1959-released album The Piano Scene of Ahmad Jamal (Epic Records). It was a trio affair, with Jamal at the keyboard, Ray Crawford on guitar, along with bassists (separately) Ray Calhoun and Israel Crosby. But before those earlier sessions saw the light of day, Jamal's At The Pershing: But Not For Me (Argo Records, 1958) hit the record racks. Jamal had switched out the guitar ...

Profile

How Ahmad Jamal Got His Groove Back

by Chuck Lenatti
July 26, 2024

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Though he was well-versed in the musical vernacular of blues, big bands, bebop and hard bop, piano trios and singers, as well as European classical music, pianist Ahmad Jamal seemed out of step as jazz fused with rock and R&B in the 1970s. Doubling on the Fender Rhodes and frequently backed by singers and strings, Jamal's covers of contemporary hits like Stevie Wonder's “Superstition," Marvin ...

Album Review

Ahmad Jamal: Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse, 1966-1968

Read "Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse, 1966-1968" reviewed by Stefano Merighi

by Stefano Merighi
July 2, 2024

Il terzo volume della serie “Emerald City Nights" del trio di Ahmad Jamal documenta alcune serate al Penthouse di Seattle nel triennio 1966-68. L'edizione è assai curata e firmata da Zev Feldman per il suo marchio Jazz Detective. Jamal, pianista stimatissimo da molti maestri del jazz fin dai suoi esordi, confermava in queste esibizioni di guardare obliquamente la storia del jazz moderno, dal bebop fino al modale, da una posizione del tutto originale, magari con un atteggiamento eclettico ...

Profile

Ahmad Jamal Plugs In: Funk, Fusion and the Fender Rhodes

by Chuck Lenatti
June 14, 2024

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 During the politically and culturally turbulent late 1960s and '70s, many jazz musicians attempted to appeal to a younger and more diverse audience that grew up listening to artists such as James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone rather than Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington or Charlie Parker. Miles Davis was the catalyst. Released in 1969, Miles Davis' seminal album Bitches Brew (Columbia GP ...

Profile

Ahmad Jamal: After Poinciana

by Chuck Lenatti
May 21, 2024

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 On Location and at the Penthouse In an apparent effort to capitalize on the new-found popularity from his 1958 record, At the Pershing, But Not for Me (Argo LP628), Ahmad Jamal released a flurry of albums between 1958 and 1970, many of them recorded on location. Musically, it was a very productive period for Jamal, and these 20-plus albums do nothing to tarnish Jamal and his ensembles' ...

Profile

Ahmad Jamal: An American Classic

by Chuck Lenatti
April 30, 2024

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 1930-1958: From Pittsburgh to The Pershing Frederick Russell Jones was born on July 2, 1930, to a working-class family in jny: Pittsburgh. His friends called him Fritz. As a boy, he delivered newspapers to Billy Strayhorn's family. He converted to Islam around 1950 and took the name Ahmad Jamal. His family identified him as a child prodigy at the tender age of three after his ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Ahmad Jamal

Source: Michael Ricci
July 2, 2023

All About Jazz is celebrating Ahmad Jamal's birthday today!

Obituary

Ahmad Jamal: 1930-2023

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 17, 2023

Ahmad Jamal, whose spare but highly melodic piano style on trio recordings beginning in 1951 transformed the sound of the jazz piano and deeply influenced Miles Davis and Red Garland, died on April 16. He was 92. At the dawn of the 1950s, Jamal's gleeful and relaxed style was a radical departure from other piano approaches at the time, when thick chords and a strong left hand held sway on the jazz piano. While critics would scoff at Jamal's recordings ...
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Music Industry

Ahmad Jamal: Complete Okeh, Parrot & Epic

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 14, 2022

There's always plenty of talk about musicians who had an enormous impact on jazz's direction. From Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young to Charlie Parker, Kenny Clarke, Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Lennie Tristano, Shorty Rogers, Sonny Rollins, Clifford Brown, Bill Evans, John Coltrane and beyond. Always skipped over, for some reason, is Ahmad Jamal. Now Fresh Sound has released an extraordinary two-CD box that is sure to get you to reconsider: Ahmad Jamal's Three Strings: The Complete Okeh, Parrot & Epic ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Ahmad Jamal

Source: Michael Ricci
July 2, 2022

All About Jazz is celebrating Ahmad Jamal's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Ahmad Jamal

Source: Michael Ricci
July 2, 2021

All About Jazz is celebrating Ahmad Jamal's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Ahmad Jamal

Source: Michael Ricci
July 2, 2020

All About Jazz is celebrating Ahmad Jamal's birthday today!

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Ahmad Jamal

Source: Michael Ricci
July 2, 2019

Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Ahmad Jamal

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
March 23, 2019

This week, let's check out some videos featuring pianist Ahmad Jamal, who will be performing Saturday, March 30 at the annual benefit gala for the Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries. Jamal, who's now 88 years old and plays only a select number of dates per year, is a native of Pittsburgh who began his musical career in the late 1940s, reaching international stardom a decade later with the release of his album Live at the Pershing. Recorded at a ...
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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Ahmad Jamal

Source: Michael Ricci
July 2, 2018

Recording

Ahmad Jamal and Fender Rhodes

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
September 14, 2017

We tend to think of Ahamd Jamal as a pioneer of the elegant jazz trio, a style he perfected in the 1950s by making ample use of space, swing and the upper register of the piano keyboard. Or we think of Ahmad's more recent abstract recordings that are bold and percussive. In between, there was a brief period when Ahmad recorded on the Fender Rhodes electric piano. He released only three studio albums on which he recorded extensively on the ...
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