Emerald City Nights by Ahmad Jamal
Ahmad Jamal is ranked among the most influential jazz pianists of the past century—albeit, he preferred to think of his accomplishments in terms of American classical music. Aside from the elevation of jazz from dance halls to concert stages during his lifetime, Jamal was schooled in both African and European American music. He was Debussy as interpreted by Art Tatum, resulting in a style of playing all his own.
Emerald City Nights was recorded live at a series of dates (1966-’68) at Seattle’s Penthouse, a jazz club where the reel-to-reel recorders were always switched on for broadcast on local radio. The rich archive has been mined in recent years for fabulous, previously unreleased gems. The two-disc Emerald City Nights finds Jamal in the company of bassist Jamil Nasser and drummer Frank Gant, a spacious combo allowing free play for Jamal and the rhythmic changes of his colleagues. Jamal’s melodic imagination was almost boundless—check out his 15-minute take on Henry Mancini’s “Mr. Lucky.”
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