LP-2638

Ahmad Jamal Trio - Portfolio of Ahmad Jamal

Released 1958

Recording and Session Information

September 5/6 1958 Spotlight Club, Washington D.C.

LP 2638 9023 Ahmad's Blues
LP 2638 9024 It Could Happen To You
LP 636 9025/9040 I Wish I Knew
LP 2638 9026 Autumn Leaves
LP 636 9027 Stompin' at the Savoy
9028 Love for Sale
LP 636 9029 Cheek to Cheek
LP 636 9030 The Girl Next Door
LP 636 9031 Secret Love
LP 636 9032 Squatty Roo
9033 Tater Pie
LP 636 9034 Taboo
LP 636 9035 Autumn in New York
9036 Too Late Now
LP 2638 9037 Gal In Calico
LP 636 9038 That's All
LP 636 9039 Should I LP 2638 9041 This Can't Be Love
LP 2638 9042 I Didn't Know What Time It Was
9043 The Night Has a Thousand Eyes
LP 2638 9044 Seleritus
LP 2638 9045 So Beats My Heart For You
9046 Pavanne
LP 2638 9047 Ivy
LP 2638 9048 Let's Fall in Love
9049 My Funny Valentine
LP 2638 9050 Old Devil Moon
LP 2638 9051 Aki and Ukthay (Brother and Sister)
LP 2638 9052 Our Delight
LP 2638 9053 You Don't Know What Love is

Track Listing

This Can't Be Love	Rodgers & Hart	September 5, 6 1958
Autumn Leaves	Prevert, Mercer, Kozma	September 5, 6 1958
Ahmad's Blues	Ahmad Jamal	September 5, 6 1958
Ole Devil Moon	Lane, Harburg	September 5, 6 1958
Selertius	Ahmad Jamal	September 5, 6 1958
It Could Happen To You	Van Heusen, Burke	September 5, 6 1958
Ivy	H. Carmichael	September 5, 6 1958
Tater Pie	Irving Ashby	September 5, 6 1958
Let's Fall In Love	H. Arlen, T. Koehler	September 5, 6 1958
Aki Ukthay	Ahmad Jamal	September 5, 6 1958
You Don't Know What Love Is	D. Raye, G. DePaul	September 5, 6 1958
I Didn't Know What Time It Was	Rodgers & Hart	September 5, 6 1958
So Beats My Heart For You	Henderson, Ballard, Waring	September 5, 6 1958
Gal In Calico	A. Schwartz, L. Robin	September 5, 6 1958
Our Delight	T. Dameron	September 5, 6 1958

Liner Notes

Scorned by the critics but worshipped by musicians and public alike, the Ahmad Jamal Trio was the biggest selling jazz group on records in the year 1958. Billboard Best Sellmg Artists on LP's for 1958: Ahmad Jamal, No. 13; Jonah Jones, No. 18; Erroll Garner, No. 24. Years and years of discouragement and frustration were swept aside by the public acceptance of the single disc and album entitled BUT NOT FOR ME, followed by the session recorded at Washington's Spotlite Club, called simply AHMAD JAMAL.

As a long-time and lonely critical admirer of Ahmad, I'm grateful to the kids of America for paving the way for public acceptance of this quiet, tasteful, and vastly subtle group. For this is a true ensemble: three giants with the same concept of a swinging beat. Israel Crosby and Vernell Fournier, on bass and drums, are far more than mere accompanists. Together they provide a foundation and inspiration that free Ahmad from the rhythmic bonds which have enveloped him in the past. Free from worries of tempo, Ahmad is finally able to give full rein to his unique improvisational talent.

During a recent engagement at New York's Apollo Theatre, Ahmad was musing about his last appearance there in 1948 — as a pianist in the obscure George Hudson orchestra. He was uncomfortable in big bands, and soon turned to trio work. The Three Strings was his first venture with guitar and bass, and its success was modest around the environs of Chicago. In the early Fifties came the first trio called Ahmad Jamal, with the guitar of Ray Crawford and the bass of Eddie Calhoun (now with Erroll Garner). Through the intercession of Frank Holzfeind, owner of Chicago's Blue Note, this was the group New York first heard in 1952 at The Embers. Its subtlety and charm completely eluded the noisy patrons of this establishment, and Ahmad beat a disillusioned retreat to the midwest.

Bad luck also enveloped the trio's first recordings, which were released on the step-child label of a major company and received a minimum of distribution. The tunes, Billy Boy, Perfidia, Surrey with a Fringe on Top, are still in the books of the present group, and these Okehs remain among my favorite 78's. The influential jazz critics ignored both the trio and its discs, and Jamal became so upset that in his next New York engagement, he walked off the stand during a set at The Embers, packed his bags and returned to Chicago.

Ahmad's history is not unlike that of other presently successful jazz figures. Bill Basie scuffled for fourteen years before One o'Clock Jump became a hit in 1937. There was an intermission pianist named Garner who for a decade luxuriated in shadows. Tatum was another genius who had to wait years before being recognized, as were Fats Waller and Ellington. Still others, such as Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, and Lester Young, died in comparative obscurity despite major contributions to American music.

Even with the enormous success of his Argo LP's, Ahmad has still to be heard in the flesh or seen in the movies or TV by the vast general, meaning non-Negro public. A true artist, he makes remarkably few concessions to popular taste, demands attention, and exacts of himself the highest possible standards. His is an artistry that has consistently eluded the commercial concepts of agents, bookers, and the powers-that-be in the mass media.

Let's talk a bit about the other members of this unique trio. Israel Crosby was an integral member of Albert Ammons' Rhythm Kings, and I was lucky enough to supervise his first record session early in 1936, when he was a tender sixteen. His "Blues of Israel" was the first jazz disc built around a bass solo, and his collaborators were no less than Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, and Jess Stacy. Then as now, he was an endlessly creative and solid ensemble bassist, and it wasn't long before he recorded with Teddy Wilson, joined Fletcher Henderson's band at the Grand Terrace, and finally migrated to New York, where he was among the first musicians to break the color line in broadcasting house bands. After a year at CBS, mostly with Raymond Scott's unit, he was drafted by half an inch (he is barely five foot two and the bass seems to tower above him). Overlooked for years in the musical polls, he is finally receiving his due with Ahmad.

Vernell Fournier is from New Orleans, but first made his name around Chicago as drummer with Buster Bennett's band in 1952, which also featured Crosby. Until he joined this trio, he was often obliged to try other trades than music. A superb technician and rock-steady, he is in the Jo Jones tradition, and seems to be happiest when working with Israel.

All the music on these four sides was recorded during actual performances at Washington's Spotlite Club. It is more than evident that the audience was impeccable in its behaviour, succumbing completely to the hypnotic spell Ahmad weaves so well. Concentrated attention brings out the very best in this trio, which is a fact that New York audiences have still to learn.

It would be effrontery for this annotator to attempt to impose his taste on the buyers of his portfolio. Whether in originals like "Ahmad's Blues" or "Aki & Ukthay"; the standards "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "Let's Fall in Love"; or such Rodgers and Hart show tunes as "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" or 'This Can't Be Love", Ahmad's wit and imagination are in constant play. Jamal is a true original, one of a handful produced by American jazz.

JOHN HAMMOND
Noted Jazz Anthority