![]() ![]() This was as far from a mellow evening out as I could have imagined. Even the expected closing version of “Poinciana” was far from a rote recitation of a familiar tune these guys were on a quest to somewhere, and we were just following along. The grooves these men set up for him allow him to take pieces as far out as seemed possible, and then keep on going. Between tunes, Jamal mentioned that he likes to hire drummers from New Orleans in addition to Riley and Fournier, he also worked with Idris Muhammad for years. After the fourth number, I was astonished to see Riley - impeccably dressed in what was clearly a three-piece suit with the jacket left backstage - slip his shoes off. The band swung harder and harder, the drummer and percussionist practically dueling with each other, speeding things up to a frantic, breakneck pace without ever losing control of the hypnotic groove, as Jamal and Cammack encouraged them and kept the music flowing. Jamal clanged out rumbling chords from the low end of the keyboard, created suspense by hanging onto a two-note figure until it felt like an explosion was coming, and danced across the higher keys.Īs the set went on, it only seemed to increase in intensity. Badrena was doing every bit as much work as Riley - the two of them, and Cammack, swung ferociously hard and fast. (This Wax Poetics interview offers great insight into Jamal’s career and musical concepts.) The set began with “Quest For Light,” from his 1987 album Crystal, an uptempo vamp with ornate melodic fills that set the tone for the night. Jamal announced the title of every tune either before or after he played it, and conducted from the bench, starting pieces solo and pointing to Riley or Badrena when he wanted them to come in, then offering additional gestures to indicate tempo changes or returns to the main melody. This was a high-powered rhythm section: Riley anchored the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for 17 years, and has made two albums as a leader since 2016, and Badrena was a member of Weather Report and Spyro Gyra, among many other groups. T shouting, “Quit the jibber-jabber!”, surprising audience and band alike. It contained his best-known song, “Poinciana”:Īt the Princeton show, Jamal was joined by bassist James Cammack, who’s been playing with him for something like 40 years Riley on drums and Manolo Badrena on percussion, which in this case encompassed everything from congas to trap drums to wind chimes to a small electronic device that played a sample of Mr. His 1958 album At The Pershing: But Not For Me stayed on Billboard’s album charts for over two years, and ultimately sold over a million copies. ![]() When he formed a more traditional group, though, with bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernel Fournier, he broke out. #Jibber jazz festival professional#Jamal began his professional career playing a kind of chamber jazz, before that was really a thing: his early albums featured a piano/guitar/bass trio. I’d recently interviewed his longtime drummer, Herlin Riley, and was expecting an evening of dignified swing that combined bluesy vamps with some classical flourishes and lush, romantic melodies. So when the opportunity to see him play at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ arose last week, I jumped. Ahmad Jamal will turn 89 on July 2, and he doesn’t perform live very often anymore. ![]()
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