Say hey! Ahmad Jamal! See, the thing about Ahmad Jamal is that he can play the hell out of the piano. That’s obvious, right? If there is any doubt, I would recommend that you get the album “Live at the Pershing.” His solos are so great because he never seems lost, the power never gets out of control. Instead of scattering it around on a lot of notes, he puts it in this note. Right now.
I wonder what it would be like to be in Ahmad Jamal’s band, because you would get to play with this incredible guy but you would never get your own solo. Of course, this video is somewhere between 50 and 60 years old. The guy may have shared a few solos since then.
What is incredible, though, is how the band comes together on those little phrases. It’s the definition of tight. And in the times when Jamal is soloing, there is space in between for the other players to be heard in a way they would not be in a larger band. So not only is Ahmad Jamal a great person to listen to, he is a great person to learn how to listen from.