Ahmad Jamal, one of many world’s most influential jazz pianists who influenced a whole lot of musicians all through his 70-year music profession, handed away on April 16, forsaking a whole lot of compositions. As a fellow musician, I felt we owe him a debt of gratitude and thought it was vital to put in writing about Ahmad Jamal. It was disappointing that in Türkiye, other than some temporary information articles stating “Ahmad Jamal handed away,” there was no different information protection though he was one of the crucial influential jazz pianists on the planet.
For this very purpose, impressed by his resolution to transform to Islam on the age of 20 and the way it was mirrored in his music, I made a decision to honor him in an article.
Ranging from the Forties, some black jazz musicians adopted Islam as their faith. Over time, some black musicians turned Muslims, notably within the Nineteen Sixties. In a 1959 interview, Ahmad Jamal stated: “When my individuals have been introduced right here from Asia and Africa, they got varied names like Jones and Smith. I did not purchase a reputation. In order a part of the historical past and heritage of my ancestors, I redefined my unique title. I returned to my origin and have become Ahmad Jamal.”
A few of these Muslim musicians developed their distinctive model of music, transferring away from the well-known bebop jazz period within the Forties. At the moment, and even now, there was a bias that “rock, jazz or pop music is just for Christians, and Muslims can’t make it.” These musicians broke this prejudice.
(L-R) B.B. King, Father Norman J. O’Connor (C), aka “the jazz priest,” and Ahmad Jamal, on a Dial M for Music music program, CBS tv, New York, U.S., Dec. 28, 1968. (Getty Photos Photograph)
For this, my explicit curiosity lies within the musicians who selected Islam.
Within the Fifties and ’60s, many African American figures equivalent to Mohammed Ali, Malcolm X and Idris Muhammed transformed to Islam. Nonetheless, this did not at all times forestall cliche information about faith from getting used within the media. Some even went as far as to counsel that Ahmad Jamal transformed to Islam as a result of he was a distant cousin of Malcolm X, who additionally transformed throughout the identical interval. Nonetheless, this info was denied by Ahmad Jamal himself.
Composers and musicians equivalent to Yusef Lateef, Max Roach, Abdullah Ibrahim, Artwork Blakey and Ahmad Jamal have proven audiences worldwide that jazz carries no language or cultural obstacles from an Islamic perspective however as a substitute generally is a common language of communication. However, after all, they confronted racist rhetoric and needed to battle musical battles. For instance, Ahmad Jamal’s financial institution accounts have been blocked throughout a live performance in Germany for a ridiculous purpose; they mistook him for a terrorist due to his title and surname. Is not {that a} joke?
After changing to Islam, Ahmad Jamal responded to questions on his non secular conversion by saying, “Hearken to my music; the reply is there.” Throughout his performances, he would ask the viewers to be quiet throughout the name to prayer and even took brief breaks for prayer throughout concert events. His album “After Fajr,” additionally my favourite, was impressed by the morning prayer. Together with Ahmad Jamal, all of the musicians talked about above are individuals from whom I draw inspiration, not simply from their music but in addition from their life tales and views. You do not have to be a musician to realize inspiration from them; their attitudes towards life can train us so much.
In 2006, after giving a live performance in Istanbul, Jamal was interviewed by Esra Okutan for the Mesam journal. When requested about his non secular conversion, Okutan requested: “Your title was Fritz Jones. How did you select Islam?” Jamal replied: “My title is Ahmad Jamal. I used to be born a Muslim.” When Okutan requested the query once more, she obtained the identical reply.
The quilt of Ahmad Jamal trio. (Photograph by Sedat Anar)
After analyzing Jamal’s English interviews individually, I discovered the half the place he defined why and the way he transformed to Islam.
“Normally, I do not give interviews as a result of I categorical what I need to say via the piano. My title is Arabic, however I desire to not get into non secular debates. As a result of life taught me that if I waste my time speaking to fools, I’ll ultimately begin talking like them. I take my outlook on life from the Quran. My life motto is ‘Love for all, hatred for none.’ After I was 21 and learning philosophy of faith, I selected Islam as a result of it led me from darkness to gentle and helped me discover route,” he stated.
Many critics within the jazz world hailed Jamal because the legendary determine that got here after the genius Charlie Parker in jazz. Sadly, some jazz critics and historians haven’t given him the significance he deserves, even calling him a “cocktail pianist.” Nonetheless, it needs to be famous that critics didn’t criticize him as a result of he’s a Muslim. The principle criticism was his distinctive enjoying approach incorporating silence and pauses in his touches, which differed from the standard improvisational strategy in jazz based mostly on steady and enthusiastic improvisation. This made him a topic of criticism, as this strategy will not be typical in jazz. This can be a drawback that each one progressive composers who strategy music in a brand new manner face.
Ahmad Jamal was one of many pioneers of a brand new model of improvisation, which Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock would later develop and refine.
Whereas these unfavourable critiques continued, Ahmad Jamal achieved his first important success along with his dwell album “Stay on the Pershing: However Not For Me” in 1958. The album spent 108 weeks on the bestseller record. Clint Eastwood additionally helped popularize the album through the use of two tracks in his movies.
Along with this success, there’s one other well-known truth about Jamal amongst jazz fans: his affect on Miles Davis. Miles Davis, who lived subsequent door to Jamal for a interval, was enormously impressed by his sense of rhythm, his idea of leaving house whereas enjoying, and the lightness of his contact on the keys, as he usually talked about. He even stated he would take heed to Ahmad Jamal each time he bought caught whereas composing. Not solely Miles Davis but in addition world-renowned jazz pianists like Herbie Hancock and Keith Jarrett are amongst these influenced by Jamal’s music.
Jamal, who has received quite a few awards all through his profession, obtained his most vital award, the Grammy Award, in 2017.
Ahmad Jamal in contrast his piano enjoying approach with classical Western music. He criticized the often-assumed dichotomy between jazz and classical music, stating that American classical music is jazz. He additionally criticized the perfectionism of European classical music, saying that it’s a restrictive construction for composers and, subsequently, a style of improvisation.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, composers equivalent to Claude Achille Debussy, Ravel and Igor Stravinsky opened the doorways to freedom in melody, concord, sound depth, rhythm and tone. His rhythm sense, the idea of enjoying with areas, the lightness of his contact in his compositions, and the pauses in his improvisations are harking back to this freedom. With this inspiration, he developed a brand new improvisation kind in jazz.
The album cowl of Ahmad Jamal’s “After Fajr.” (Photograph by Sedat Anar)
Music profession
Jamal was born in 1930 in Pittsburgh as a toddler of a Christian household. He moved to Chicago in 1950 and transformed to Islam, taking the title Ahmad Jamal. In 1951, throughout an evening they carried out as a trio at The Embers, a nightclub in Manhattan, they caught the eye of the well-known report producer and expertise scout John Hammond and collaborated on an album.
In 1961, he opened a jazz cafe in Chicago referred to as “Ahmad Jamal’s Alhambra,” which served solely nonalcoholic drinks however closed attributable to monetary difficulties. All through his profession, Jamal launched greater than 60 albums, with dwell recordings being his most profitable and well-liked recordings. From the Nineteen Eighties till his demise, he centered on enjoying in America’s main golf equipment and vital European jazz festivals. Many of the listeners in Türkiye have identified him via the occasion referred to as “Cazz throughout Ramadan,” organized by Hakan Erdoğan, who introduced collectively Muslim jazz artists from around the globe in Istanbul.
Jamal introduced silence and house to jazz. His music turned part of his life as he stated: “Music and character should journey collectively.”
When he got here to Türkiye for a live performance, translator and author Sevin Okyay interviewed him. Whereas studying the interview, a query and reply caught my consideration. I believed there was no have to say one other phrase after this reply.
“What does it take to be a superb and accountable musician?” requested Okyay.
“To dwell proper. That is already true for each career. Stay proper,” Jamal replied.
