Ahmad Jamal – the acclaimed jazz pianist who influenced Miles Davis – has died

17 April, 2023

Ahmad Jamal playing the piano live onstage in London in 2014

Acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Ahmad Jamal has died aged 92.

Jamal, who was a close friend of Miles Davis, passed away at his home in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts yesterday (April 16). The cause of death was prostate cancer, his daughter Sumayah Jamal told the New York Times.

The late musician – known for his sparse, less-is-more playing style – received a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master award, and picked up a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his contributions to music history.

Jamal labelled jazz “American classical music”, and said that he liked to honour what he described as the spaces in the music.

He began his seven-decade career in the genre as a teenager during the bebop era.

However, Jamal’s musical style quickly evolved and became influential. Commercial success followed with ‘At The Pershing: But Not For Me’ (1958) – one of the biggest-selling instrumental albums of that time.

The late Miles Davis once said that “all my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal”.

In his autobiography, he also wrote that Jamal “knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, his understatement, and the way he phrased notes and chords and passages” (via BBC News).

The likes of Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett had also cited Jamal as an influence. His piano riffs were sampled by artists in the hip-hop world including Nas and De La Soul decades later.

During an interview with the New York Times in 2022, Jamal said he was “still evolving, whenever I sit down at the piano”, adding: “I still come up with some fresh ideas.”

Paying tribute on social media, Questlove shared a black-and-white image of Jamal. “A blessed life,” he wrote in the caption. “Respect.”

Badbadnotgood posted: “Rest in paradise to Ahmad Jamal. Incredible incredible incredible language and sound.”

Field Music, meanwhile, tweeted: “Sad news. Was just listening to Ahmad Jamal yesterday, as I’ve done quite a lot over the past year or so. An overlooked, low-key innovator, brilliantly balancing complexity and space.”

Elsewhere, US jazz bassist Christian McBride – who has previously recorded with Paul McCartney, James Brown and The Roots – hailed Jamal as “someone who always left me completely starstruck”.

He continued: “I’ve stood in a room with him numerous times and never had the guts to say hello. His vibe was just too regal. Thank you, Mr. Jamal for all the music you gave us. 🙏🏾❤ RIP.”

Jamal was born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 2, 1930. He started playing the piano aged three, and began studying with Mary Cardwell Dawson – the founder of the National Negro Opera Company – a few years later.

At the age of 14, Jamal joined the musicians’ union before moving to Chicago in 1950, where he converted to Islam, changed his name, and put together a piano-guitar-bass trio called The Three Strings.

Additionally, Jamal founded various record labels, a management company, and a Chicago-based nightclub and restaurant, the Alhambra.

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