The legends are TIMELESS, their GENIUS lives on. As we say goodbye to Ahmad Jamal, who was born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He began playing piano at age 3. He studied under Mary Cardwell Dawson—noted singing instructor and founder in 1941 of the National Negro Opera Company—at the age of 7, and pianist James Miller during his early teens. By the time he turned 17, Jamal began touring in George Hudson’s Orchestra. In 1951, Jamal moved to Chicago and founded his first trio, the Three Strings. They were discovered by John Hammond, who signed them to Okeh Records. Later the same year, Jamal released his first album as a bandleader, Ahmad’s Blues, on the label. The Three Strings became the house trio at Chicago’s Pershing Hotel in 1958, and it was during their residency there that they recorded the now-legendary But Not for Me.
In a 1985 interview with npr, Jamal said jazz is “sort of a unifying force” across generations. “[In Pittsburgh] I used to practice and leave the door open hoping that someone would come along and discover me one of these days. It never happened. I had to leave home for that,” he laughed. “I was asked a few days ago, we were doing a seminar in Kansas City at the university there, and a young man asked me what is my favorite product, my favorite LP or whatever, and I said, ‘The next one.’ The most put-together one, or the one I think was close to artistic perfection, as much as I can get to my own person, would be 628, the one At the Pershing. I made one mistake though!” We continue to thank him for the of exquisite artistry. Rest in Peace.
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