Pitt Jazz Studies joins the international jazz community in mourning the death of Pittsburgh native, jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. Born in 1930 and raised in East Liberty, Jamal is best known for his staggeringly popular 1958 recording But Not For Me: Live at The Pershing, an album that was on the Billboard charts for 107 weeks and remains among the best-selling jazz records of all time. Jamal’s unique style was complex, but strikingly minimalist, utilizing space and tension to create an unmistakable mood and feel. He remained at the top of the jazz piano field for over half a century and was one of the rare figures who was universally praised by both the general public and by the most knowledgeable jazz aficionados. He was a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master (1994) and awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (2017).
Coming from a lineage of world-famous Pittsburgh jazz pianists including Earl Hines, Mary Lou Williams, Billy Strayhorn, and Erroll Garner, Jamal crafted a piano sound that extended earlier approaches while also emerging as uniquely new. While those earlier figures were primarily known for overtly virtuosic, pyrotechnic displays of pianistic brilliance, Jamal’s style was airy, pared down, and unmistakably tasteful. This new approach became a central direction for jazz in the late 50s and 1960s. In fact, even the famous trumpeter Miles Davis, one of the biggest stars in jazz has ever known, was quoted in the late fifties as saying, “all of my inspiration today comes from the… pianist Ahmad Jamal.”
Though his fame by the 1950s led to a life of touring the world, Jamal was always vocal and proud of the influence of Pittsburgh on his life. In a 2001 interview Jamal said, “Pittsburgh meant everything to me and still does.” He remained in close contact with musicians and friends in the area (including Dr. Nelson Harrison, a Pitt graduate and frequent contributor to our Jazz Seminar week) and owned and managed business in the area. It was Harrison that introduced our current drum instructor, James Johnson III, to Jamal in 1999. Auditioned at the James Street Tavern, Johnson joined Jamal’s trio and toured internationally for several years.
Ahmad Jamal remained special to the Pitt Jazz Studies Program. The last publication of the late Geri Allen, former director of the Pitt Jazz Studies, was the preface to a collection of his music, Marseille: Piano Transcriptions (2017). Ahmad was inducted into The University of Pittsburgh International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame in 2006.
Ahmad Jamal plays with bass player James Cammack, and Pitt Jazz Faculty member James Johnson III on drums.