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Ahmad Jamal: Trio & Quintet Recordings With Ray Crawford
ByAhmad Jamal
piano1930 - 2023
Jamal divided opinion in the 1950s. Some critics wrote him off as "just" a cocktail pianist whose touch was too pretty by half; musicians including Miles Davis and

Cannonball Adderley
saxophone1928 - 1975
Jamal's critics were cloth-eared. He was too multi-faceted to fall into anyone's pigeonhole. His sound was by turns robust and delicate, rococo and spare, down and sentimental, driving and chilled. He arranged his material, mostly three-to-four minute versions of Great American Songbook standards, like miniature, multi-section concertos. Secure in his artistry, Jamal was unfazed by the critics. He just carried on doing his serene and subtle and swinging thingas he is still doing in 2019, witness his album Ballades (Jazz Village).
The four albums making up Trio & Quintet Recordings With Ray Crawford , each of them a treasure, are Ahmad Jamal Plays (Parrot, 1955), later reissued as Chamber Music Of The New Jazz; The Ahmad Jamal Trio (Epic, 1956); The Piano Scene Of Ahmad Jamal (Epic, 1959), compiled of material recorded 1951-55; and Listen To The Ahmad Jamal Quintet (Argo, 1961). Guitarist
Ray Crawford
guitarb.1924

Miles Davis
trumpet1926 - 1991

Gil Evans
composer / conductor1912 - 1988
Jamal chose his lineups as carefully as he arranged his music, and the trios and quintets heard here are as on-song as his later, more celebrated groups.
Israel Crosby
bass, acousticb.1919
Eddie Calhoun
bass, acousticb.1921

Erroll Garner
piano1921 - 1977
Joe Kennedy
organ, Hammond B3
Vernel Fournier
drums1928 - 2000

Nat King Cole
piano and vocals1919 - 1965

Oscar Peterson
piano1925 - 2007
Trio & Quintet Recordings With Ray Crawford is where seven decades of historic recordings began. The package is well annotated and the digital remastering is superb. How great to have it all on catalogue once again. ">
Track Listing
CD1: New Rhumba; A Foggy Day; All Of You; It Ain’t Necessarily So; I Don’t Wanna Be Kissed; I Get A Kick Out Of You; Jeff; Darn That Dream; Spring Is Here; Perfidia; Love For Sale; Rica Pulpa; Autumn Leaves; Squeeze Me; Black Beauty; The Donkey Serenade; Don’t Blame Me; They Can’t Take That Away From Me; New Rhumba.CD2: Old Devil Moon; Ahmad’s Blues; Poinciana; Billy Boy; Will You Still Be Mine; Pavanne; Crazy He Calls Me; The Surrey With The Fringe On Top; Aki And Ukthay; Slaughter On Tenth Avenue; A Gal In Calico; It’s Easy To Remember; Ahmad’s Waltz; Valentina; Yesterdays; Tempo For Two; Halleljah; It’s A Wonderful World; Baia; You Came A Long Way From St Louis; Lover Man; Who Cares; Joy Spring.
Personnel
Ahmad Jamal
pianoAhmad Jamal: piano (1: 1-19, 2: 1-22); Ray Crawford: guitar (1: 1-19, 2: 1-23); Israel Crosby: bass (1: 1-19, 2: 13-22); Eddie Calhoun: bass (2: 1-12); Joe Kennedy: violin (2: 13-22); Vernel Fournier: drums (2: 13-22); Miles Davis (trumpet) with the Gil Evans Orchestra (1: 20); The Gil Evans Orchestra (2: 23).
Album information
Title: Trio & Quintet Recordings With Ray Crawford | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Cherry Red Records
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