Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones; July 2, 1930 – April 16, 2023) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator.

[1] He was a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master and won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his contributions to music history.

[5] Jamal began formal piano training at the age of seven with Mary Cardwell Dawson, who he said greatly influenced him.

[8] In 1950 he moved to Chicago,[2] performing intermittently with local musicians Von Freeman and Claude McLin,[14] and solo at the Palm Tavern, occasionally joined by drummer Ike Day.

The Three Strings arranged an extended engagement at Chicago's Blue Note, but leapt to fame after performing at the Embers in New York City where John Hammond saw the band play and signed them to Okeh Records.

Hammond, a record producer who discovered the talents and enhanced the fame of musicians like Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, and Count Basie, helped Jamal's trio attract critical acclaim.

The set list expressed a diverse collection of tunes, including "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top" from the musical Oklahoma!

He also said his religion had brought him peace of mind about his race, which accounted for his "growth in the field of music that has proved very lucrative for me.

"[16] Upon his return to the U.S. after a tour of North Africa, the financial success of Live at the Pershing: But Not For Me allowed Jamal to open a restaurant and club called The Alhambra in Chicago, which lasted barely one year.

[44][2] Because of this style, Jamal was "often dismissed by jazz writers as no more than a cocktail pianist, a player so given to fluff that his work shouldn't be considered seriously in any artistic sense".

[46] His unique musical style stemmed from many individual characteristics, including his use of orchestral effects and his ability to control the beat of songs.

B. Spellman of the National Endowment of the Arts said: "Nobody except Thelonious Monk used space better, and nobody ever applied the artistic device of tension and release better.

[48][41][42] Though Jamal is often overlooked by jazz critics and historians, he is frequently credited with having a great influence on Miles Davis.

Davis is quoted as saying that he was impressed by Jamal's rhythmic sense and his "concept of space, his lightness of touch, his understatement".

[49] Jamal's contrasts (crafting melodies that included strong and mild tones, and fast and slow rhythms) were what impressed Miles.

"[51] From an early age, Jamal developed an appreciation for the lyrics of the songs he learned: "I once heard Ben Webster playing his heart out on a ballad.

"[53] Saxophonist Ted Nash described his experience with Jamal's style in an interview with Down Beat magazine: "The way he comped wasn't the generic way that lots of pianists play with chords in the middle of the keyboard, just filling things up.

It was really interesting because it made you stop, and allowed him to respond, and then you felt like playing something else – that's something I don't feel with a lot of piano players.

"[54] Jamal recorded with the voices of the Howard A. Roberts Chorale on The Bright, the Blue and the Beautiful and Cry Young;[55] with vibraphonist Gary Burton on In Concert;[56][57] with brass, reeds, and strings celebrating his hometown of Pittsburgh;[58] with The Assai Quartet;[59] and with tenor saxophonist George Coleman on the album The Essence Part One.

[60] Recorded live in San Francisco, July 1982 With Ray Brown With Pat Metheny/Gary Burton/The Heath Brothers With Shirley Horn Bibliography