CD review: Ahmad Jamal – At The Pershing And Other Live Recordings 1958-59 – 2020: Video, CD cover

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 great-value 57-track 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.

CD1

01 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – But Not For Me
02 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Surrey With The Fringe On Top
03 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Moonlight In Vermont
04 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Music, Music, Music
05 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – No Greater Love
06 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Poinciana
07 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Wood’yn You
08 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – What’s New
09 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Too Late Now
10 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – All The Things You Are
11 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Cherokee
12 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – It Might As Well Be Spring
13 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – I’ll Remember April
14 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – My Funny Valentine
15 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Gone With The Wind
16 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Billy Boy
17 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – It’s You Or No One
18 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – They Can’t Take That Away From Me
19 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Poor Butterfly
20 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Stomping At The Savoy
21 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – That’s All

CD2

01 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – The Girl Next Door
02 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Squatty Roo
03 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Autumn In New York
04 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Taboo
05 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Secret Love
06 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Should I
07 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – I Wish I Knew
08 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Cheek To Cheek
09 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Old Devil Moon
10 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Seleritus
11 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – It Could Happen To You
12 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Tater Pie
13 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – This Can’t Be Love
14 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Autumn Leaves
15 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Let’s Fall In Love
16 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Aki And Ukthay (Brother And Sister)
17 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – You Don’t Know What Love Is
18 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – I Didn’t Know What Time It Was

CD3

01 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Ivy
02 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – So Beats My Heart For You
03 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Gal In Calico
04 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Our Delight
05 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Comme Ci Comme Ca
06 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Ivy
07 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Never Never Land
08 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Tangerine
09 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Ahmad’s Blues
10 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Seleritus
11 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – I Like To Recognize The Tune
12 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – I’m Alone With You
13 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Sophisticated Gentleman
14 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – It’s You Or No One
15 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Poinciana
16 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – There Is No Greater Love
17 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – Surrey With The Fringe On Top
18 – The Ahmad Jamal Trio – But Not For Me