martes, 20 de octubre de 2009

Ahmad JAMAL - Freeflight 1972


Ahmad JAMAL - Freeflight 1972
Recorded in performance at the Montreux Jazz Festival. July 1971
Label: Impulse

Jazz

Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones) on July 2, 1930[1], is a noted American jazz pianist. Jamal was one of Miles Davis's favorite pianists and was a key influence on the trumpeter's "First Great Quintet" (featuring John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums). Davis had long admired Jamal's use of space and dynamics, and had asked Wynton Kelly to "sound more like Ahmad Jamal" on the track "Freddie Freeloader" on the well-known album Kind of Blue. Since the 1980s Jamal has been regularly touring the major clubs of the United States and the large European jazz festivals. He is generally accompanied by bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad. He has also performed regularly with saxophonist George Coleman.

Freeflight is a concise and apt title for this spontaneous combustion of inspired improvisation; though the quality of the recording itself is a little shaky (particularly where the electric piano is concerned), the album contains a fantastic set captured at Montreux, four offerings of Jamal at his most exciting and dynamic. The taut rhythmic unit of bassist Jamil Sulieman and drummer Frank Grant fiercely hurtles through the chord changes on the opening McCoy Tyner tune "Effendi", while Jamal oscillates between spacy Rhodes intonations and straightforward thematic establishment on the acoustic piano; similar alternation is effectively utilized on Jamal's explorative original "Manhattan Reflections". The powerful trio likewise captivates with its exceptionally high level of energy and interplay on two all-acoustic covers, "Dolphin Dance" and "Poinciana". An optimal slice of live jazz.
Performing with bassist Jamil Sulieman Nasser and drummer Frank Gant, Jamal shows that his basic style has evolved since the 1950s but is still quite recognizable. He uses the electric piano as a double for color and stretches out on three numbers (including a remake of his hit "Poinciana") in addition to playing a five minute version of Herbie Hancock's "Dolphin Dance." An excellent effort.
**
Ahmad Jamal- Piano, Fender Rhodes
Jamil Sulieman- Bass
Frank Gant- Drums
**
01.Introduction (0:53)
02.Effendi' (11:27)
03.Dolphin Dance (4:48)
04.Manhattan Reflections (10:00)
05.Poinciana (11:28)
**
NoPassword
*
DLink
*

1 comentario:

  1. Thank you so much for this one. BTW...(for other visitors) when doing a search for ahmad on this site, always hit the "entradas antiguas" at the bottom of the page. There are actually TWO long pages of cd entries.

    ResponderEliminar