Ahmad Jamal — the influential American jazz pianist and bandleader whose innovative career spanned seven decades — has died. The artist's daughter, Sumayah Jamal, confirmed to The New York Times that Jamal passed away Sunday (April 16) at his home in Ashley Falls, MA, from prostate cancer. He was 92.
Born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1930, Jamal began his professional career at age 14, taking influence from forebears of American jazz (which he is said to have called "American classical music") and European classical composers.
While his stylistic meld was dismissed by some early in his career, it would prove foundational to players including Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett. Legendary genre figure Miles Davis has long been quoted as saying, "All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal." The trumpeter wrote in his 1989 memoir how Jamal "knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, and the way he phrases notes and chords and passages."
Jamal first broke through commercially while leading the house band at Chicago's Pershing Hotel lounge with 1958 album Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not for Me. The album, which sold over a million copies, is highlighted by his trio's eight-minute version of 1936 song "Poinciana," for which his expressive chords and melodies are deftly guided by a steady rhythm section.
Jamal's recording catalogue would go on to become a foundational sample source for the likes of JAY-Z, De La Soul, J. Cole, Common and many more. The pianist's rendition of "I Love Music," which appears on acclaimed 1970 album The Awakening, was memorably flipped by Pete Rock to form the basis of "The World Is Yours" by Nas.
Jamal was honoured with a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master award, a lifetime achievement Grammy and induction into France's Order of Arts and Letters. He continued playing into his 80s, telling The Guardian in 2013 of his many years performing, "It's a divine gift, that's all I can tell you. We don't create, we discover — and the process of discovery gives you energy.
"Rhythm is very important in music, and your life has to have rhythms too. You can exercise properly, eat properly — but the most important thing of all is thinking properly. Things are in a mess, and that's an understatement; so much is being lost because of greed. There are very few authentic, pure approaches to life now. But this music is one of them, and it continues to be."
Born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, PA, in 1930, Jamal began his professional career at age 14, taking influence from forebears of American jazz (which he is said to have called "American classical music") and European classical composers.
While his stylistic meld was dismissed by some early in his career, it would prove foundational to players including Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett. Legendary genre figure Miles Davis has long been quoted as saying, "All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal." The trumpeter wrote in his 1989 memoir how Jamal "knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, and the way he phrases notes and chords and passages."
Jamal first broke through commercially while leading the house band at Chicago's Pershing Hotel lounge with 1958 album Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not for Me. The album, which sold over a million copies, is highlighted by his trio's eight-minute version of 1936 song "Poinciana," for which his expressive chords and melodies are deftly guided by a steady rhythm section.
Jamal's recording catalogue would go on to become a foundational sample source for the likes of JAY-Z, De La Soul, J. Cole, Common and many more. The pianist's rendition of "I Love Music," which appears on acclaimed 1970 album The Awakening, was memorably flipped by Pete Rock to form the basis of "The World Is Yours" by Nas.
Jamal was honoured with a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master award, a lifetime achievement Grammy and induction into France's Order of Arts and Letters. He continued playing into his 80s, telling The Guardian in 2013 of his many years performing, "It's a divine gift, that's all I can tell you. We don't create, we discover — and the process of discovery gives you energy.
"Rhythm is very important in music, and your life has to have rhythms too. You can exercise properly, eat properly — but the most important thing of all is thinking properly. Things are in a mess, and that's an understatement; so much is being lost because of greed. There are very few authentic, pure approaches to life now. But this music is one of them, and it continues to be."