AHMAD JAMAL: MACANUDO [Re-up]

AHMAD JAMAL
Pode parecer estranho que o percussivo piano de Ahmad Jamal, tal como o conhecemos hoje, tenha influenciado o lirismo de Miles Davis. Mas ao ouvirmos os primeiros discos do "camaleônico" Jamal, dos anos 50, vamos nos defrontar com um pianista delicado, cujas linhas melódicas da mão direita têm tudo a ver com o lirismo do igualmente "camaleônico" Miles. Quem diria que aquele pianista elegante, contido, viria a se transformar no "desafinador" de pianos de hoje...

(*) È bom lembrar que o sucesso de Chris Montez e da "pilantragem" de Wilson Simonal e Carlos Imperial devem muito a Jamal, pois foram calcadas no ritmo de seu trio nos anos 60.
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AHMAD JAMAL
Ahmad Jamal (born Frederick Russell Jones on July 2, 1930 at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a noted American jazz pianist. Jamal was one of Miles Davis's favorite pianists and was a key influence on the trumpeter's "First Great
Quintet". Davis had long admired Jamal's use of space and dynamics, and had asked Wynton Kelly to "sound more like Ahmad Jamal" on the track "Freddie Freeloader" on the well-known album Kind of Blue. Jamal created The Three Strings in 1951, with bassist Israel Crosby and guitarist Ray Crawford, replaced with drummer Vernel Fournier in 1958. The trio released the live album But Not for Me which stayed on
the Ten Best-selling charts for 108 weeks. The financial success of the album allowed Jamal to open a restaurant and club called The Alhambra.
Jamal typically plays with a bassist and drummer; his current trio is with bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad and, recently, Jamal's group included innovative percussionist Manolo Badrena. Jamal's style has changed steadily over time - from the lighter, breezy style heard on his 1950s recordings to the Caribbean stylings of the 1970s and onto the large open voicings and bravura-laden
playing of the nineties. Jamal has always been distinctive however for his use of space, his dramatic crescendos, and for a very staccato orientation with chords.
Ahmad Jamal is also known to be a Steinway artist since 1960. It is rumored that his pianos need to be tuned between sets due to the percussive nature of his playing.
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MY OPINION
Ahmad Jamal,the driving force behind this album,is at home in Latin America. Coaxing great blocks of shimmering sound from the piano,the great pianist defends his reputation as the most rhythmic and creative artist working on the keyboard today. The arranger Richard Evans provides a colourful frame for the Jamal palette.
Using jazz greats and conservatory trained musicians from the New York Philharmonic and other symphony orchestras he paints brilliant impressionistic portraits with strings,french horns,flutes,harps and bells. Darting in and out of the splashes of sound,Jamal rises to great heights as an artist by dominating this large and impressive orchestra.” In terms of arrangement, Bogota is the stand out track on the lp for me, but "Sugar Loaf at Twilight" is the one that touched my heart. ASTOUNDING, to say the least.
(CB)
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MINHA OPINIÃO - este álbum do gigante AHMAD JAMAL é uma declaração de amor à lationoamérica e ao Caribe. Os arranjos de Richard Evans são esplêndidos. Para meu gosto pessoal o momento mais bonito do álbum é a cançaõ "Sugar Loaf At Twilight", linda a partir do título. A faixa Bogota é a mais "jazzy" do album, num arranjo cujos rítmos se alternam entre a "valsa-jazz" e o 4/4 "straight ahead". È um álbum raríssimo gravado na fase caribenha do grande AHMAD JAMAL.
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ALBUM - AHMAD JAMAL: MACANUDO

TRACKS/FAIXAS
1. Montevideo
2. Bogota
3. Sugar Loaf At Twilight
4. Haitian Market Place
5. Buenos Aires
6. Bossa Nova Do Marilla
7. Carnival In Panama
8. Belo Horizonte

DOWNLOAD: AQUI