Ahmad Jamal is a modern jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator, born in 1930, who has been active in the genre for 70 years. A Pittsburgh native, he started playing professionally in the mid-1940s at the age of 14 and was hailed by Art Tatum even at that stage of his life as “a coming great”. He converted to Islam in 1950 and formed his first trio in 1951, developing a minimalist, spacious style admired by the likes of Miles Davis, with his music prompting reviewer John Morthland to write that: “If you're looking for an argument that pleasurable mainstream art can assume radical status at the same time, Jamal is your guide”.

By the mid-50s his recordings and performances had firmly established him on the scene, and during 1958 and 1959 his trio did a series of recorded ‘live’ performances which included the “At the Pershing: But Not for Me” LP, which was a big commercial success and the most highly-regarded and critically acclaimed album of his career, cementing his place in the jazz pantheon.

This 3-CD set comprises recordings from The Pershing Lounge, Chicago in January 1958, The Spotlite Club in Washington DC in September 1958, Nola’s Penthouse Studio, New York, in February 1959 and the Newport Jazz Festival in July 1959. These recordings represent the complete contents of the albums “At The Pershing: But Not For Me”, “At The Pershing Vol. 2”, “Ahmad Jamal Trio Volume IV”, “Portfolio Of Ahmad Jamal” and “Jamal At The Penthouse”, along with selected titles from the Newport performance. It’s an entertaining collection of some of his most renowned recordings, and a great showcase for a highly distinctive jazz stylist.

REVIEWS

The excellent album takes us from early Chicago sessions via Washington DC, the NY Nola Penthouse, to the 1959 Newport Jaz Festival. It is a good dmonstration of exactly what Miles Davis so loved about Ahmad at this period - the space in his playing, the dynamics and the interaction with the trio. It's addictive listening, and the three CDs here serve the addiction well. **** - Alyn Shipton (Jazzwise Issue 258)

Taken singeley or together, these remastered performances show conclusively that as a young man, Ahmad Jamal was already an accomplished and innovative pianist and composer. The African-American critic Stanley Crouch has written that he was a “true innovator of the jazz tradition … Through the use of space and changes of rhythm and tempo, Jamal invented a group sound that had all the surprise and dynamic variation of an imaginatively ordered big band”. Fortunately for all of us, he also managed to mature with age – and is still around to prove it. **** (Jazz Journal Autumn 2020)

 “A priceless collection that will be difficult to prise out of my CD player for sure!”  –  Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 342)

“…These tracks swing and if it's Erroll Garner's style that sometimes comes to mind, that's fine. Jamal is subtle, harmonically canny and never less than intriguing [Vernel] Fournier brings a street-wise kick to Poinciana that influenced many other players. Unsurprisingly, there was follow-up album to At The Pershing Vol 1 [whose eight tracks open CD1 here] and Acrobat have helpfully combined the Pershing pair with two more made by the trio at the Spotlite Club in Washington, also in 1958, together with other recordings from New York and the 1959 Newport Festival. Often reissued but seldom so completely this is essential music. Fine booklet too.”  –  Peter Vacher (Jazz Rag Issue 162)