Miles Davis mentor is gone
RIPMiles Davis once said, ‘all my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal.’
Jamal, who has died aged 92, was a spartan, self-effacing pianist who worked with with many jazz greats while producing a stream of his own solo albums that acquired a following far beyond generic boundaries. Clint Eastwood used two of his tracks in his film, The Bridges of Madison County. Jamal himself had no respect for categories. He was familiar with classical and modern music as much as with jazz legends.
Miles David? Bless your heart
RIP. A true legend and absolute powerhouse pianist. I saw him live in 2019, the creativity, skill and energy at 89yo was just one of a kind
Jamal was not Davis’s mentor. Davis was playing and recording professionally with Charlie and Parker in 1945, at which time Jamal was a fifteen year-old kid in Pittsburgh.
Condolences to the family. Yes, Miles Davis was evidently much taken by Ahmad Jamal’s rasa, likely sharing awareness of this with Bill Evans. In terms of improvisation, Lester Young is an oft overlooked primary influence on Davis, with Frank Sinatra key to his ballad interpretations.
http://azuremilesrecords.com/overchickensoup.html
This is asinine! To call him a mentor completely misses the point. Miles Davis took Ahmad Jamal’s arrangements and hired Red Garland because he sounded like Jamal. The thievery was so bad that Jamal stopped playing his best arrangements in public until he recorded them so they didn’t show up on Miles Davis recordings. They weren’t friends.
One of the great instrumentalists in any genre of the 20th Century. To label him as Davis’s mentor is rather ignorant.
Jamal’s passing is by far the biggest loss to jazz in the last decade. He lived to a ripe old age and was performing until a few years ago. His rhythmic dynamics and light fleet fingers brought an entire new dimension to the art form after the early demise of Art Tatum. He was often replicated some with success, others who did not have his specific talent, not. He had a difficult last few years with a bout of covid and pancreatic cancer. May he rest in peace.
The only thing that matters is that he was here and he made this world richer.