Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not for Me

This CD has one of my favorite pieces from the 1950's, Poinciana. It's just as delightful now as it was then, & I am delighted to have this item back in my collection of music.

I was there when this was recorded. I was a senior in high school then, and I bought the record when it was released not knowing it had been recorded that night. I went through at least 2 LP's and love it to this day. Hope you enjoy it also.
Lee Mascarello

Poinciana, Poinciana, Poinciana. If for nothing else, this album stands out in my mind with just that one song. One of the fondest childhood musical memories of listening to my father's record collection. I just had to buy the CD. And all the melodious memories have been rejuvenated! What a glorious live recording. Now I can truly appreciate the entire performance; tinkling plates, glasses, and silverware included.

Say all you want about Ahmad's use of silence and "space," his defining quality is, above all, discipline. Whereas the conventional approach is to play the head in 2/4 after which the rhythm section is unleashed in 4/4 while the soloist rips through a chord sequence, Ahmad is reluctant to leave either the song or the two-beat feel of the opening chorus. Instead, he comes back to the original melody again and again, converting it into a "riff" with slight alterations for every subsequent chorus. And when he does release the rhythm section or improvise for a whole chorus over a walking bass line, the effect is explosive.

Numerous musicians have used the device of riff-like repetition (listen to Paul Gonsalves' celebrated solo on "Ellington at Newport"), but few do so with as much respect for the original melody and close attention to the finest details of construction and contouring as Jamal. For him a song is not merely a chord sequence for improvisation but a tone poem or even miniature symphony awaiting the artist's realization through imaginative revisioning. And his "touch" is inimitable, as pianists who have copied his every chorus with less success (listen to Michel Camilo's attempt to play Ahmad's version of "Poinciana") have discovered.

In short, Ahmad is that enviable and rare oxymoron, the "popular" artist. He serves up all the melody a jazz-challenged listener could ask for while satisfying the artistic demands of the fastidious jazz-piano aficioniano. If the guy has never regained the popularity he enjoyed with "But Not for Me," the fault is not his but that of a public that's lost touch with the supreme melodies that comprise the American Songbook.

I have to agree with the other reviewers regarding the quality and invention of this release. I have never heard a trio that sounded so big! Their interplay is phenomenal. Jamal is truly one of the greatest Jazz pianist, he's amazingly inventive. However, you might want to consider buying the CD Ahmad Jamal Cross Country Tour: 1958-1961 [LIVE] instead. It includes the tracks from this release (with the exception of "what's new"?) and 25 others all recorded durring the same era. It is a phenomanal CD!