Happy 50th Anniversary to The Ahmad Jamal Trio’s The Awakening, originally recorded February 2-3, 1970.
One of the myriad things I love about living in New York City is that live music is omnipresent. New York’s music community arguably represents the widest musical spectrum to be found anywhere, but the city is particularly fecund soil for the jazz lovers among us. So many amazing jazz venues—large halls, small clubs and everything in-between—that host a perpetual stream of the genre’s aspiring and more established artists. I’ve enjoyed many wonderful performances in these venues during my nearly two decades living here, but there’s one show in particular that stands apart from all of the rest for me.
Back in the summer of 2002, I was asked to explore ideas for a company social event, to coincide with several of my out-of-town colleagues flying in for a week of meetings at our midtown Manhattan offices. Upon perusing the entertainment sections of the local papers, I discovered that the legendary jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal would be playing a week-long series of shows at The Iridium, located just a few blocks from our offices, conveniently enough. I ran the idea by my boss, secured his support, ordered the tickets, and escorted a few dozen coworkers to the show.
Prior to the performance, I had been casually familiar with Jamal’s music, most notably his early work from the 1950s through recordings such as his critically-acclaimed live performance at Chicago’s Pershing Hotel. After the Iridium performance, however, my relationship with Jamal’s music could no longer be classified as casual. I was hooked, man. While my distracted colleagues regrettably seemed like they couldn’t care less about what was transpiring on stage and were noticeably itching to move on to the bar down the block for a long nightcap, I was absolutely floored by the grace, sophistication and power of Jamal’s playing that evening. I knew that I was witnessing a true master of his craft, a bona fide piano legend, and I was grateful.
Shortly thereafter, I embarked upon a much deeper exploration of Jamal’s career and music. I learned that while Jamal’s creative and stylistic impact pervades the last century of jazz music, his accomplishments have often been unfairly slighted by many critics. In his Considering Genius: Writings on Jazz (2007), Stanley Crouch eloquently defends Jamal’s legacy and originality, suggesting that “no single artist after (Charlie Parker) has been more important to the development of free form in jazz than Ahmad Jamal.” High praise, indeed.
Upon spending quite a bit of time listening to various records within his extensive catalog, I ultimately discovered what I now consider to be the most compelling manifestation of his musical genius: 1970’s The Awakening. His first studio LP for the Impulse! label, The Awakening features the trio of Jamal, Jamil Nasser (bass) and Frank Grant (Drums) playing an enchanting song set comprised of Jamal’s original compositions (“The Awakening,” Patterns”) and solid interpretations of others’ work (Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance,” Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments,” Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Wave”).
Listened to as a unified whole, The Awakening reinforces not just Jamal’s superior musicianship and ensemble leadership, but his keen penchant for improvisation and variation in navigating his arrangements. The trio’s playing is fluid, their notes unraveling in unexpected and riveting ways, pivoting and changing direction seamlessly mid-song, without ever sounding disjointed or discordant. It is the album’s dynamism that makes it so thoroughly enthralling, wholly devoid of filler, with nary a dull moment to be heard.
No great surprise then that The Awakening has proven to be a crate-digging favorite among some of hip-hop’s savviest producers, as they seek out the perfect sonic flourishes for their own compositions. Most notably, Pete Rock sampled “I Love Music” for Nas’ “The World is Yours” from his landmark 1994 debut album Illmatic and DJ Premier leveraged the same composition for Jeru the Damaja’s “Me or the Papes” from 1996’s Wrath of the Math, while No I.D. lifted “Dolphin Dance” for the title track of Common’s 1994 sophomore LP Resurrection. More obscure samples worth mentioning are Shadez of Brooklyn’s 1996 single “Change” produced by Da Beatminerz and O.C.’s 1996 DJ Celory remix of “Word…Life,” which incorporate “The Awakening” and “Stolen Moments,” respectively. And the late great J Dilla paid dual homage to Jamal and “The Awakening” through his “Ahmad Impresses Me” instrumental found on his hard-to-find What Up Doe Sessions.
To my ears, there are few sweeter sounds in life than those produced by the giants of jazz piano, that rarified group that claims Art Tatum, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans, Horace Silver, Oscar Peterson and yes, Ahmad Jamal as its founding members. And the elegant, inspired sounds that Jamal offers on The Awakening are some of the very sweetest I’ve ever heard. An essential LP for any jazz record library, and a highly recommended introduction to Jamal’s prolific musical footprint for the uninitiated.
LISTEN: