Ahmad Jamal
“There is good and bad in every area of expertise,” so says Ahmad Jamal, one of our American treasures. He is an extraordinary piano player whose recordings have been enjoyed the world over for over fifty years.
Born in 1930 as Frederick Russell Jones, he converted to Islam in the early fifties, changing his name. His choice of style is distinctive. When you listen to plenty of jazz, you begin to recognize various artists’ styles as you would the voices of singers. Jamal has a style that invokes a mood that is identifiable as him alone.
I have written before about the website “All About Jazz”. Recently, I have found they have long form podcasts available. These usually consist of clips of radio broadcast interviews with various artists. Chris Comer, a host on WAIF in Cincinnati, did such an interview last fall before Jamal visited the city for a concert.
When Comer asked him his thoughts on the current state of music, and specifically the hip-hop sound, Jamal replied, “There is good and bad in hip-hop. There is good and bad in rap. There is good and bad in opera. There is good and bad in every genre, and in so-called jazz. The European body of classical, there is good and bad. Some of it is very boring and some of it is very stimulating.”
The interview is worth listening to, not only to hear the thoughts and ideas of a man who is older in number of years, but very young of heart, but to hear his thoughts on life. Jamal is clear that “ranking” is poor for the soul. As a country, we spend too much time considering which song, movie, etc. is the best. We need to adopt an attitude that art is what it is. Some will enjoy it. Others will not.
I enjoyed Ahmad Jamal when I played his records on the radio. His music is universally today. If you have the time, check out the interview and search your local music store. You will not be disappointed.
Thank you for reading. We will talk again soon.
Born in 1930 as Frederick Russell Jones, he converted to Islam in the early fifties, changing his name. His choice of style is distinctive. When you listen to plenty of jazz, you begin to recognize various artists’ styles as you would the voices of singers. Jamal has a style that invokes a mood that is identifiable as him alone.
I have written before about the website “All About Jazz”. Recently, I have found they have long form podcasts available. These usually consist of clips of radio broadcast interviews with various artists. Chris Comer, a host on WAIF in Cincinnati, did such an interview last fall before Jamal visited the city for a concert.
When Comer asked him his thoughts on the current state of music, and specifically the hip-hop sound, Jamal replied, “There is good and bad in hip-hop. There is good and bad in rap. There is good and bad in opera. There is good and bad in every genre, and in so-called jazz. The European body of classical, there is good and bad. Some of it is very boring and some of it is very stimulating.”
The interview is worth listening to, not only to hear the thoughts and ideas of a man who is older in number of years, but very young of heart, but to hear his thoughts on life. Jamal is clear that “ranking” is poor for the soul. As a country, we spend too much time considering which song, movie, etc. is the best. We need to adopt an attitude that art is what it is. Some will enjoy it. Others will not.
I enjoyed Ahmad Jamal when I played his records on the radio. His music is universally today. If you have the time, check out the interview and search your local music store. You will not be disappointed.
Thank you for reading. We will talk again soon.
posted by Alexander Dimm | 5:42 AM
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