He was one of the monuments of jazz. The man who was nicknamed “Ahmad the Magnificent” died last Sunday at the age of 92. Ahmad Jamal died at his home in Ashley Falls, south Sheffield, Massachusetts. According to statements by his daughter Sumayah Jamal, he was suffering from prostate cancer as reported le « Washington Post ».
A huge jazz figure and genius improviser, Ahmad Jamal has shaped the world jazz scene for seven decades, with at least 80 albums to his credit. His tense and rhythmically flexible approach to the piano has influenced generations of musicians, such as trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist McCoy Tyner. His style is described as based on surprise, ruptures, the use of silences, with a phrasing with romantic accents that is both dynamic and light.
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A neutral pioneer
Born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he grew up in a very modest African-American family. As a child, his mother gave him a piano, on which he made his debut. Immediately, his talent is expressed; the legend was born. The Scrapbook « Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing : But Not for Me », released in 1958, marks the beginning of its success. It remains more than 100 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the American ranking of the most popular titles. Sold over a million copies, the album became one of the biggest commercial successes of the time. : a rarity for jazzmen, unaccustomed to rubbing shoulders with the top of the charts.
In the 1950s, he was a pioneer since he was one of the first African-American artists to publicly adopt the Muslim faith. In the midst of the civil rights movement, while many jazzmen take a public stand, Ahmad Jamal is not a slayer. He never constrains his thoughts to any banner and stays away from Black Power. His album “The Awakening”, released in 1970, reflects his neutral position by rejecting all the political slogans of the time.
Jazz in trio
In parallel with his solo vision, it is through the different trios that have punctuated his life that Ahmad Jamal gives himself new energy and colors. His characteristic arrangements give him a very special sound that will become the signature of all his work. First at the helm of « The Three Strings » with Ray Crawford (guitar) and Eddie Calhoun (double bass) – soon replaced by the brilliant Israel Crosby – Ahmad modifies his trio for a piano-bass-drums formation. The year 1962 will be difficult: Ahmad Jamal divorces, and dissolves the trio. The rebirth will go through the album “The Awakening”, which lays the foundations of Jamal’s definitive style. During the 1980s, marked by experimentation and liberation, Jamal was notably accompanied by Manolo Badrena, a brilliant and explosive percussionist, a perfect counterpart to his sophisticated playing.
Avant-garde and eager for new sounds, the pianist for whom jazz was the “American Classical Music” never stopped reinventing itself. In 2007, the man who has just died at the height of his art, detailed for ” Telerama » :
“European classical music is represented by Bach, Brahms, Ravel, Debussy, Beethoven, Chopin… American classical music is represented by Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Sidney Bechet. The musicians flourish, build themselves. Some basic things are still there in my music, the melodic sense for example, but the density of sound has changed with age, and the rhythmic part becomes more elaborate. »
Now in the Pantheon of jazzmen, Ahmad Jamal will have all his life flirted with this absolute freedom. His secret? “I live an exciting life, and when you live an interesting life, you keep discovering”as he told AFP in 2012.
