idlero
Not every jazz musician gets to celebrate his 70th birthday at Olympia and not everyone can put in his CV what Miles said about him-"I live until Jamal makes another record". Jamal was one of Miles Davis's favorite pianists and it is said that Davis insisted that his pianist, Red Garland, sound as much like Ahmad Jamal as possible. For his 70th birthday concert at Olympia Ahmad Jamal brought along his longtime trio companions( James Cammack on bass and Idris Muhammad on drums), George Coleman , a postbop tenorist who appears only on the first four tracks, which are fairly lengthy readings of standards: "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes," "How Deep Is the Ocean," "Autumn Leaves," and "My Foolish Heart". Jamal is in great form and the last two tracks - Johnny Pate's mid-tempo swing tune "Appreciation" and Jamal's own composition "Aftermath" with it's intensive drumming and energetic piano playing (making you wonder if Mr Jamal was really 70 when he played it) are worth alone the price of this album. A must for fans of Ahmad Jamal .