Ahmad Jamal in concert January 29, 2014

Saturday Morning with Wynton Marsalis live at Lincoln Center

   

January 29, 2014   Brussels Bozar  Ahmad Jamal in concert

 As I write these words, my mind and body absorb the sound, texture and rhythm of Ahmad Jamal’s 2011 recording “Blue Moon,” hailed then as his “latest masterpiece.”  Indeed, he is a master, and he has been called “a man touched by grace”…..

    

I first heard of Ahmad Jamal as a child.  My father, Edward Duane George, loved music, especially the music of his generation – the 1940s , 50s and 60s.  He was blessed with a natural ear for music and was a gifted singer with scarcely any musical training.  He admired the crooners of his era – Frank Sinatra, Mel Tormé, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald…..I grew up with their voices and style always playing in the background…on my father’s electric organ/stereo hifi, or on the big electric radio ensconced on the righthand side of the old milksafe in the kitchen….the radio which was my father’s constant companion. Amongst the 33 rpm albums in my father’s collection, right alongside Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made for Walkin” and Barbra Streisand’s early “My Name is Barbra,” was a small 45 rpm in a chic little black cardboard box with a handsome young man seated at a piano on the cover.  The disc contained the recording of Ahmad Jamal’s “Poinciana” which I could listen  to over and over and never tire of hearing.  He was one cool dude in my childish opinion, even before I knew those words or understood what they meant.

 

Two years ago, on a road trip from Brussels to the Dordogne in southwestern France for an Easter holiday, I was delighted to find a two-cd set of old Ahmad Jamal recordings in a convenience store reststop.  I shouldn’t have been too surprised, as the French have always loved and admired American jazz musicians.  Of course, among the many pieces included in these recordings was Jamal’s famous “Poinciana.”  I once again began playing it over and over again….its magic had not lost its power over me despite the intervening years.  

                

On January 29, in Brussels’ Bozar theater, I had the unique and supreme pleasure and delight of finally experiencing Mr. Ahmad Jamal and his trio in concert.  It was a thrill I will never forget…yes, even a magical evening. The theater was completely packed!  Brussels jazz enthusiasts had come out of the woodwork on a cold Wednesday night to heat up to the sounds of one of jazz piano’s greatest living legends.  Here was Ahmad Jamal, now 83 years old, and a greater musician than the handsome youth from that long ago 45 recording that entranced me as a child.  I was completely enthralled!

   

Jamal’s mature playing has rich layers and textures that have evolved over a lifetime of living, learning, performing, and simply loving music and life. He has always been an excellent jazz pianist...but now he is a consummate master....the music flowed from his soul through his fingers....it was sheer delight to listen to and watch.  The trio was also amazing.  The drummer, Herlin Riley, and bassist, Reginald Veal,  in particular,  were  so alive and in synch, and each performed inspired solos.  Percussionist Manolo Badrena injected humor along with his boundless energy and skill on congo drums and a variety of playful accompaniments including an ocarina birdlike whistle. 

 

  

I felt a bit "at home" when I saw them flash huge American smiles at each other while playing, and heard Mr. Jamal's richtoned voice.  I was a bit nostalgic I must admit.  At one point, I found myself shining, a huge smile on my face while simultaneously  tears flowed unbidden down my cheeks.  I was transported back to my childhood so far off in time and physical space, with my dad’s spirit looming large in my memory.  I could feel him enjoying the music right along with me.  Thanks, Dad, for introducing me to Mr. Ahmad Jamal…..because of you, I am sitting here at this concert 40-odd years later in Brussels, Belgium....

What never ceases to amaze me with extraordinarily talented musicians like these, is how they manage to play with such joy, such passion and spontaneity, giving such  seamless performances, yet the entire time, you have the feeling that the music is simply flowing effortlessly from some inner unseen but magical source. They hardly seem to be playing at all, and yet every fiber of their being at that moment is in the music.  It is supreme  virtuosity!

Mr. Ahmad Jamal has told interviewers that he began to play the piano at the age of three in his native Pittsburgh, when his uncle challenged him to try to duplicate his keyboard performance.  Little Fritz Russell Jones promptly did so, and the rest, as they say, is history.  He converted to Islam and changed his name in 1950.

 

At the end of their set, the audience gave Jamal and his trio three standing ovations!  After each, they returned to their instruments and offered an encore no less worthy than their earlier performance. After the second encore, Jamal of course played “Poinciana”which remains his best known recording and a classic piece from the 1960's. Nevertheless,  I really adore his new compositions...he played "Saturday Morning" from his latest cd of the same name from 2013, and "Autumn Rain" from “Blue Moon” both of which  I keep wanting to listen to over and over with the same fascination that “Poinciana’ held for me so many years ago.

  
I came home after that concert and couldn't get to sleep for several hours because I felt so stimulated by the experience....

Long live the musical genius and spirit of Ahmad Jamal!