LP-703

Ahmad Jamal – At The Blackhawk

Released 1962

Recording and Session Information

Ahmad Jamal, piano; Israel Crosby, bass; Vernel Fournier, drums
Blackhawk, San Francisco, January 31, February 1 1962

11737 The second time around
11738 (Medley :)
Alone together
Love walked in
11739 Smoke gets in your eyes
11740 We live in two different worlds
11741 The best thing for you
11742 (Medley :)
I'll take romance
My funny Valentine
11743 I'm old fashioned
11744 Like someone in love
11745 Angel eyes
11746 Darn that dream
11747 Falling in love with love
11748 On Green Dolphin Street
11749 April in Paris
11750 We kiss in a shadow
11833 Night mist blues
Like someone in love (alt #1)
Like someone in love (alt #2)
The second time around (alt #1)
The second time around (alt #2)

Track Listing

I'll Take Romance	Oakland-Hammerstein	Jan 31, Feb 1 1962
My Funny Valentine	Rodgers-Hart	Jan 31, Feb 1 1962
Like Someone In Love	Van Heusen-Burke	Jan 31, Feb 1 1962
Falling In Love With You	Rodgers-Hart	Jan 31, Feb 1 1962
The Best Thing For You	Irving Berlin	Jan 31, Feb 1 1962
April In Paris	Harburg-Duke	Jan 31, Feb 1 1962
The Second Time Around	Van Heusen-Kahn	Jan 31, Feb 1 1962
We Live In Two Different Worlds	Fred Rose	Jan 31, Feb 1 1962
Night Mist Blues	Ahmad Jamal	Jan 31, Feb 1 1962

Liner Notes

IN THE HISTORY of jazz there has been only a handful of rhythm sections that have approached perfection. Basie had such a group in the late Thirties and Forties, and Ahmad Jamal had onc from 1954 to 1961, when these marvelous sides were at the Blackhawk in San Francisco.

The death, in August 1962 of the bassist Crosby, marked the irrevocable finale to the particular trio that has given me more pleasure than any other in the past decade. At the age of sixteen Crosby made his first discs in Chicago with Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman and an all-star small combo, and from that time on there never was another bassist to equal him. His intonation was impeccable, his technique prodigious he never bothered to display it, and — most important of all — he was the complete ensemble musician. His prowess gave Jamal a freedom to experiment in a way no other pianist has dared to do.

The Ahmad Jamal Trio far transcends the jazz world, and the fact that it has been consistently the most popular trio on records has caused the self-styled jazz critics to polish off such epithets as "commercial" and "cocktail music". Pay the writers no mind, and listen to some of the most sensitive, delicate and subtle music in jazz history.

There is one track on the second side of this disc that will go down in history as one of the greatest of all blues performances: "Night Mist Blues". For me this is the crowning achievement of Ahmad's recording career, and one can only hope that it can become a two-sided single hit. Ahmad plays with a gusto he usually hides. Crosby is miraculous and Fournier on drums, nothing short of perfection.

In the days when this writer was a critic himself, nothing used to infuriate him more than superlatives on liner notes. He steers away from them on the occasional copy he writes for Columbia albums; but when confronted by a record like this plus the memory of Israel Crosby he has had to succumb to his enthusiasm.

Since Crosby's death Ahmad has been searching for the right successor, and finally in Richard Evans he has found one. If Vernell Fournier can be persuaded to return the magic of the Jamal Trio can continue. This, alas, is the final disc of that unparalleled threesome: Jamal, Fournier and Crosby.

John Hammond