You'll Hear It: Full Album Deep Dives with Jazz Musicians - The Ultimate Ahmad Jamal Playlist

Episode Date: September 7, 2026

Jazz pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin play each other their favorite Ahmad Jamal tunes to build the ULTIMATE Ahmad Jamal playlist. Learn to play tracks from You'll Hear It. Join the You'll Hear It Players Club: https://yhi.link/players-club-------------------------------Learn to talk like a jazz musician. Download the Liner Notes FREE today: https://yhi.link/linernotes-5-------------------------------Watch Ahmad Jamal at Studio 61: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KFMLNop0_g&t=607s-------------------------------📞 Send us a message: https://youllhearit.com/-------------------------------Listen to the Ultimate playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1TvAf7P7H5JvG0hP0SJth9?si=vH8EJXmHS4mGw8eWm0BqnA------------------------------About You'll Hear It:Jazz pianists Adam Maness and Peter Martin unpack popular albums track-by-track in this weekly listening party. They talk about what their trained ears hear in the music, offering audiences a new window into the records they love. 00:00 The Ultimate Ahmad Jamal Playlist01:48 72 years of recording, longer than a queen's reign04:06 Excerpts from the Blues (Jazz from '61, CBS Studios)08:21 But Not For Me 14:02 Jamal's quiet swagger16:05 Old Devil Moon 19:02 The 1 a.m. New Orleans gig with Brian Blade20:37 Star Eyes 25:09 When Peter met Ahmad Jamal26:15 Poinciana (Live at the Pershing, 1958)27:19 I Love Music 29:25 It Could Happen to You32:08 The elephant in the room: Miles Davis35:39 Cherokee 39:55 Peter's hot take on Israel Crosby41:13 Willow Weep for Me 43:42 What's New46:35 Our favorite moments48:53 How snobby is this playlist?50:50 Is this better than Kind of Blue?

Amajamal, a master of taste, time, and touch. A hero to Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Nas, and J. Della. This is the ultimate Amajamol playlist. I'm Adam Anas. And I'm Peter Martin. And you're listening to The You'll Hear It Podcast. Music Explored. Explored, brought to today by the You'll Hear at Players Club, Peter.

This is a brand new set of lessons that I began this season of the podcast where I'm going to do a selection of songs that we're going to do throughout the season, and I'm going to teach you how to play them from a very basic level. So if you have been thinking, I wish I could dust off my instrument and learn how to play, I don't know, Led Zeppelin's the ocean, or Radiohead's Weird Fishes, or Stevie Wonders, isn't she lovely? Well, that one I know already, but yeah, well, you do. But, Ned, lock in, plug in, because we're going to... Let's plug into the Players Club. Plug into the Players Club. You can click the link in the description to learn more about the Players Club. You'll hear it. Yeah, go to you'll hear it.com. Sorry, I had to throw that in there.

That's right. One more bit of housekeeping before we get going on this incredible lesson. While you're at you'll hear at dot com, leave us a voicemail because we are going to do a mailbag episode coming up and we want to hear from you. Right. And you might be scared because you're like, oh, my voice is going to be on the, if I leave you a speak pipe or a message that your voice is going to be on the podcast. And you would be right to be scared. It will be. But think about us. Our voice is all over this for an hour every week. So join the party. Yeah, join the party. Plug in. No, but you get a chance. Don't be nervous. You get a chance to submit it. first. I know a lot of people think, oh, I'm just, I'm talking and it's being recorded. You have a chance to approve it or not. Yeah, you can edit it. You can approve it. You can redo it. Yeah. Well, I don't know about editing. Don't get excited, buddy.

No, plug it. Plug in, Peter. Plug in. Okay. Today's an exciting day. Oh my gosh. I'm so excited. I know. I know you're about to say that, but it really is. I mean, we're talking about not only a legend, a gentleman. A goat, for sure. A steward of jazz piano for multiple generations and OG, but really one of the most influential musicians that we're ever going to talk about on this pod in several different ways beyond just what we're going to celebrate, which is mostly going to be as incredible pianism.

Is that a word? We don't know. We say the word. Do you know what I mean by it? Yes. So it becomes a word. You're talking about the vegetable? The pea?

No, pianism. Pianistic abilities. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And we're talking about none other than. Amad Jamal. The great. The great one. The great man.

Amad Jamal. I mean, he is a hero to both of us. He's a hero to most modern jazz musicians and a lot of modern musicians because of his incredible sensibilities, like one of the greatest masters of time, touch, feel, melody, improvisation, voicing's taste. He ran in an amazing band for years. I love this. One of the stats that we have here on our worksheet for this episode, Peter,

is that Amajima was active playing and recording music from 1948 to 2020. Yes. That's 72 years. That's longer than Queen Elizabeth's reign in the 20th century. That's astounding. That's right. And he earned his. He wasn't just born into it.

He really did earn it. If you're not familiar with Amma Jamal, first of all, where you've been? But second of all, I'm envious of you today. Because you get to experience some of the great music of the 20th century for the first time. Yeah. And I think there's actually probably a lot of people don't feel shameful if you're not familiar. I think there's a lot of people that know the name. Yeah.

And haven't really heard. Well, actually, they have heard. And I think that that's going to, how quickly does, oh, it's going to happen pretty quick. But, yeah, I think he's one of those artists that really has name recognition, but a lot of people haven't dug in. So like you say, envious for sure, it's going to be, this is a great time. Because I think we have an incredible, what do we have, 10 or 11 tracks here?

You got 10 tracks here. Five each. Are we really naming this, the ultimate, now I'm nervous. That was your idea, buddy. Was it? The ultimate Amajumal Playlist. Well, when we have the pre-production meetings, I'm so excited, I'm so cocky. But then we get in here and I'm like, I want to do Mr. Jamal right.

Well, this is truly a playlist because of your first pick, Peter, is not anything on an album. Yes. So this was from 1960 CBS Studios. The legendary. Legendary CBS Studios. And this was from a television broadcast that brought together a lot of famous jazz musicians. I remember watching. Yeah, I remember.

Did you have the VHS? I had the VHS. They used to show the VHS at music school, like in classes all the time. Lazy teachers. They've shown footage of this. Ken Burns used some of this footage. for his jazz documentary? No, it's actually incredible.

But there's just because there's so many... Yeah, Lester Young, Ben Webster, legendary artist, Billy Holliday. Yeah, everybody was there. Billy Holiday, that's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's beautifully filmed. I mean, dare I say, like,

for the technology they had for video and for audio and how it was broadcast, it's incredible how good it was. I mean, really holds up against a lot of the camera work today. And I don't know. It's good. It's really good. We'll have links to it.

So, of course, it's on YouTube, and we'll watch a little bit of it. So this is the trio, Amad Jamal on piano, and some names that we're going to hear pretty much the entire day. Yeah. Israel Crosby on the bass and Vernal Fornier on the drums. And this is, the title that we got from this is just called excerpts from the blues. Yeah. Second part of Jazz from 61, the Amad Jamal Trio. Excerpts from the Blues by Amad Jamal.

All those other musicians hanging out in the background, chilling. Joe Jones right there. Oh. Okay. What's the dynamics? And too? Tasty A.F. Man, the arrangements. Par X on all.

The arrangements make it. The arrangements are what makes this trio so special. 30 years old. How do you like your blues? Major? Major 7, why not? If you're on audio, make sure to go check this out on YouTube. Rennell Fournier there, Rush Master.

Oh, my God, Rush. Workshop technique. Ah, Ben Webster. Yeah. For our listeners, they keep cutting to, like, just jazz legends. Yeah, he's, Ben Webster's cigarette hanging out of his mouth, some hipster guy in the background. Nice. A natural pianist that we've.

Space, too. So much space is. Yeah, I mean, for your first poll. Oh yeah, by the way, this is my, yeah. Pretty darn good. Is this a competitive situation? It's not a competitive. It's not like the draft because we've...

No, because I've already won. It's not competitive. Boom. Well, you picked five and then I picked five. So I had to kind of deal with your five picks. Oh, I'm looking at this list. Somehow you managed. Oh, I'm doing okay.

So it's not technically a draft. We're just kind of pulling our top five picks and trying to make the ultimate playlist, right? So I am, though, coming at you. Okay. I'm going to come after you. Because that was a great pull. Okay.

And the only thing I could think of to counter would have been this. But not for me. Live at the Pershing. The sound of the drums. Perfection, except for the tuning of the piano. Even that I'll take. Oh, I love this line. Man, why is this such a... This is such an iconic arrangement and track.

It's so simple. Can I tell you why? And why Amont Jamal is the greatest? Why? He's never 10 seconds away from the melody. Whether he's playing the melody or during his solos. Or even when he's not playing anything. You can tell.

Listen to his solo. He's never 10 seconds away from... That's true. You might not be five seconds. Letting you know where the melody is. Such a lesson for any musician. And when he commits to a melody, he commits. He doesn't pull back.

And then that counter melody that... The bass line is Almost no calming in the left hand Melody Right Quoting the melody Yeah Oh I love this block chords here

Cromatic Imminably Yeah The crass Hey do you miss the melody Because there it is There it is It rears its beautiful head

Man there's such a dramatic Presence to like To when he's playing And when he's leaving space Oh, yeah. Hey, do you miss the melody? This is the most finely crafted jazz panel trio playing ever.

100%. This is what we were saying on our trio showdown the other week. Not King Cole. Chick-Correa. I already planted my flag in a Jamal's trio. Certainly for craft. Arrangement.

All this. The ending. This is one of the simplest, most beautiful endings. Okay. You know, you don't have to have an out-chorus of the melody if you're playing the melody the whole time. You know what I'm saying? It's crazy that this is a live...

This is live of the Persian, of course. 1958, Chicago, Illinois. What's really incredible about this is we always have a great opportunity with live recordings. You hear people like you're in the club. It's the 1950s. Chicago.

Al Capone's coming in with a time. No, that's stereotyping, right? He did just be at the Green Mill a lot. That's true. Yeah. We typically associate the greatest live recordings as being really free-spirited, you know, extended solos. You know what's going to happen?

The crowd's roaring. And this crowd is very present. Like, it's a sort of chattery. I mean, they're not talking. Yeah. There's like, there's stuff going on. Like, there's a constant. It's not like the silent thing.

But the way that they're playing, and look, I got it, we can talk about because I heard a mod playing numerous times, obviously later on his career live. But the way they're playing on this is like everything has been predetermined. And I don't mean in a stale way, but they're doing a live gig where people are hyped up. You can feel the energy. It's palpable. But they're playing with a precision in craft that shouldn't work in a live situation. Be like, oh, that that's boring.

But it's just like, I mean, and it wasn't written out. A lot of the stuff that Ahmad and the whole band, there were certain cues and triggers and, like, they were always done. But like a lot of the stuff that sounds like, oh, that must have been composed because it's so perfect. wasn't. That was actually improvised. You can hear the different versions of the tunes. But he had that combination between improv planned, spontaneous arrangements and cues that he would have. But this is a tight... I mean, how long is that thing? Like 3.30. 330 on a live trio, you know, in Chicago. Yeah. They're not stretching. No.

Yeah, he's not just blowing a bunch of lines. But there's so much music in that. Like I keep saying, the melody is always so close. And then the rhythm section of Israel Crosby and Vernel Fournier are queuing off of things that Amma's doing and creating these arrangements that are just stunning. And they are in such a great pocket. What I think about, when I think about this trio, is quiet swagger. They have this quiet confidence. Quagger. That sounds bad.

Squagger. Squalor. That's better. But it is this confidence that they exude. You can hear it through the speakers. Confidence and no cockiness. No cockiness. There's like very little ego going on.

I totally agree. I mean, you feel that. It's like a, it's a visceral feeling the way they're all playing, and then the way they play as, it's such an ensemble. But there's like this restraint. There's so much restraint. Which takes confidence. It takes confidence.

And typically in live situations, it can be a little bit like, did they really bring it? But damn, did they bring it? And then when you look, the arc, I mean, I've listened to this track so many times, you know. And I think jazz pianists, this is, this might be the most, you know, revered sort of just trio, crafted. It's not like Ahmad's

like greatest solo or anything. I mean, it's certainly very good. It's not, I mean, what we heard on the live thing in a way was like more ripping and running. Yeah. Kind of a mod. But I mean, just as a trio craft. It's perfect. Yeah. It is perfect. It's like if you went to, you know, wherever, you know,

Greek architecture and you want to see Ionian pillars, why are you looking at me like that? Oh, you didn't have those in? The major scale? We had those. No, but like some, like, do you want to go see that and say, let's go to Athens. I mean, let's go to Athens. Let's go.

Like, this is the Amademal trio is like... Oh, let's go. We're on our way. Hey, everyone, taking a break real quick. We throw around a lot of music theory terms here in the show. If you're Googling things like, what is a triad? Hold on. I'm Googling.

What is a triad? Okay, go ahead. What is a Lydian, Corey? How do you spell Lidian? You know how to play that, bro. Good news. We have all the answers for you in the liner notes. You'll find the liner notes companion guide with clear, simple explanations of the contents we

we explore in this episode. in the episode description. Download the liner notes for this episode for free for day. So you're saying I won that round? I know this is not competitive.

No, I don't think you did. I think we tied. I would say so far. Well, your next cut... This is good. So this is from the album called Portfolio of Amage Mall.

And this is recorded live... Live in the spotlight. I think it was the original. Same year, released in 19... Recorded 58, released in 1959. Same band. This is Old Devil Moon.

This is incredible. The C. Spotlight Club. Woo. Sophisticated swing, they're always swing. Swagger swing? Swagger. Swagger. Squagger. Squagger. Quieter.

When we try to play like this, we're in a quagmire. Swayant. He gets obsessed with that E flat there. But you think, oh, he's abandoned the melody. He's never more than a few moments away. Always around the corner. Oh, space. Man, there breaks.

Their breaks are so great because... Melody. Yeah. They were so great because of everything they do to lead up to it. It was never just like break. It's like the drama of it is percolating. Using space in the way that he does, using the melody in the way that he does. It's not a traditional I solo, then the bass player solos that we trade for us with the drummer every time.

It's like there doesn't need to be that. You know what I mean? Like everybody is involved the whole time. Group collective improvisation. It really is. It really is. It's a. It's a template that, you know, so back in the day, we're talking 58?

No, 90s, early 90, 91, 92. I had a trio called the, I don't even know why I'm talking. We're doing the Amajamol. Oh, you play? The Amalgamol. Playlist. Let me talk about my trio. Yeah, I was going to say it.

Can I hear your version of Old Devil Moon, please? We used to play this arrangement. Oh, really? Yeah, Brian Blade on drums, Christopher Thomas on bass. That's a hell of a band there. And we had, like, a regular gig at a place called Charlie Bees in the Warehouse District in New Orleans. the gig started at 1 a.m. I'm not about that lifestyle anymore, man.

It finished at 5 a.m. It was an after-hours joint. So you were a young man. Yes. But it was such a great time because Brian, Chris and myself, we were all obsessed. Like, I'm sure you were at that age as well. Or whatever. Like, if you're a jazz pianist, all roads lead to Majumal.

Yeah. You know, I mean, I think you could say the same about Herbie and McCoy, whatever. But in a different way, I think, with them. Mad Jamal. Yeah. But we were so obsessed with this. We had this gig of which oftentimes there was nobody there.

It was this big, beautiful club, but it took a while. So we would just play, each week we would try to learn as many Amajemal trio arrangements. And this is the one of the ones

we really liked. And, you know, sometimes like some drunken, like, you know, bros would come in there in New Orleans for like a weekend and be like, play some Mardi Gras,

Indian music. What are you doing? And we're like up there, boom, boom, boom, yeah. I'm trying to do my imitation of a mon. And you're probably,

like dead, arrogant with those cats too. The bros coming in. Yeah, exactly. We're cocky. We're not doing that for you. That's amazing. That's a great poll. It's a great poll.

My next poll is from the album, all of you, from 1962. This is actually one of the first albums I ever bought on vinyl when I started collecting vinyl. And I found this at the record exchange down in South City, which actually you and me and the great Christian McBride were at several weeks ago. We almost lost Christian McBride in there. I know.

He didn't want to leave. Yeah. It's a cavernous record story. and I bought this album Amad Jamal Trio all of you. This is from the live of the Alhambra, though. It is, yeah.

He had a lot of repackaging. A lot of repackaging. And this is Star-Irise from that live gig, 1961 at the Alhambah. Oh, yeah. A military band vibe. Yeah, definitely. There's a lot of Aeroa here, isn't there?

Was Elkhartner from Pittsburgh as well? I make it up, yeah. why he's playing on the high ass. Oh, Vernel. That's that New Orleans. Isn't that sick? When he switches to the sticks. It's an unexpected use of that somehow.

Like, it doesn't, it fits so well. But they're not like going all the way into a New Orleans vibe. No, it's not like. But there's a lot of it. It's so crappy. That's Vennel, right? Like, he's bringing that at all times. It's amazing.

Yeah, you can't like name that group. You don't need to name it. But we do have a track coming up next that we're going to be naming the groove. That's great. I haven't listened to that in a long time. Thank you for...

Oh, the Al-Hambard. Did you know that was Amad's club? Yeah, he owned a club. Yeah, that's right. In the late 50s or early 60s. Early 60s, yeah. Amademal famously from Pittsburgh punching above its weight.

We like to say the same thing with St. Louis, kind of a rust belt, overlooked Midwestern city that this produced some great musicians. Yeah, for sure. Okay, now's where Peter takes the lead. Cardwell School of Music in Pittsburgh. Oh, because of that?

Yeah. That's where he wants to ask you. No, no, with your next pick. Oh, okay. Yeah. No, Amad Jamal started playing at three years old. I know. I know.

Musical family, all that good stuff. And I never knew this. He was discovered by the famous, infamous, Columbia executive, John Hammond, who I believe, am I going to speak out of turn here? You know what? I don't care. Do it. Because I'm not a journal.

Go. And that, didn't he discover Aretha Franklin as well and some others? You're looking like just total blank. Like, could be yes, could be no, but you're not jumping on that bandwagon, are you? I'm not jumping on that bandwagon, are you? I'm not. You're not jumping off it. I'm not co-signing on it, though.

I'm not, I don't know. John Hammond was like a fantastic exec for Columbia. Anyway, okay, but the next track that we have, I don't know how I was able to grab this. Well, it was inevitable that one of us was going to do this. This is probably, this is definitely his most famous track. He played it all throughout. I mean, when I got a chance to hear him still in, you know, the 2010.

I actually think, I guess, no, I'd never heard him after the pandemic, but, and. I think me, too. It was around that time. He was touring very late into his career. Yeah, yeah. And he didn't tour like crazy. Like he did it when he wanted and would like just do like really good gigs. He do clubs.

He do clubs. Yeah, he was here at Jazz St. Louis. He was at Jazz St. Louis. He was at Jazz St. Louis. He'd do festivals in Europe. You know, the first time I met him, which was like mid-90s, I'll never forget. I was getting in a van. It was like a shuttle van at like, I think it was the Nice Jazz Festival.

You know, it's like, you're going from the hotel over and I'm getting in and, you know, people kind of move around. Somebody said, oh, they'll be like moved to the, backseat so I could get in there. And I was like, oh, my God, this is Amad Jamal who's, like, physically in the same vicinity that I am. I mean, I almost was like, ah, I just want to, like, crawl up and get in his lap and be like, but I just, you know, I said, oh, Mr. Jamal is so great to meet you.

And he was, oh, my God, what we're listening to here, this is exactly the way he was. Did you ever get a chance to meet him? I never talked to him. Never talked to him. You know, he had a, there was a certain amount of presence. I think I shook his hand, but I never really spoke with it. Yeah.

He probably, I think because of the level of his playing, I mean, there's the fear factor as pianists, you know, whatever. But he was so warm and just like, hey, you know, and then it was like, oh, who are you putting? Oh, I'll try to come. I was like, oh, my God. And this was during the period where I'm like, learn all his arrangements and we're playing them, you know.

So cool. So it was like it was yesterday. I remember getting in that band. Yes, this is his biggest hit. I mean, he played it forever, Point Sienna, of course. And this is, I guess, the original recording? It's not. It's not.

He recorded it very early on. I was testing you. you are correct. Yeah, but this is by far the most famous version, the live from the Pershing, right? Yes. And this is so iconic that literally the groove that's played here by Vernal Fornier on the drums

is now a standard groove where you say, hey, give me a point sienna groove. Yeah. And every drummer knows exactly what you mean. Even beyond jazz, kind of. Yeah, of course. You know, it's kind of like a thing, you know. And it's rare that it would be named after,

you know, like a song that's really from an arrangement. It's not even... I guess you could say, give me that Vernel-Forneille-Fornege groove, but even, I mean, like, this is about it's point. It's how he plays about how the whole trio plays. Here we go, point sienna. Oh. This is also a masterpiece.

You hear that forehand? Is that at low tom? Is that forehand? Yeah. Or is that bass drum? I believe it's a... It sounds like a timpani. I believe it's a floor top.

Yeah. Huh. That's that New Orleans. I mean, it's subtle, too. It's the baseline, the way it interlays. and Amontz is playing spread so beautifully sparsely

straight down like there's not even sick of patient yeah he's just like yeah because everything's there he knows he doesn't have to oh exactly exactly

no like anticipations right because everything they set up the whole thing oh that here oh when it goes to the bridge super straight and then let's we know that's coming back

a little solo oh no yeah we're building up Right now, Peter, effectively to what's one of the greatest moments in the history of jazz, what happens in a few seconds. Yeah. Instinct. But there's a connection with the groove before, right?

Not far from the melody, huh? Oh, man, that pride symbol? Splashy. Like, I don't know how Rennell Fornia gets that snare drum without the snares to sound like that. He's got those little pops, those little rimmed. shot pops. This is some of the small amount of solo when he does on this track. Dippy,

Gipi, back to the melody. And we're just hanging out here too. Oh, man. All right, that's great. All right, hold on, we gotta hear the moment one more time. Oh, yeah. I want to hear the moment one more.

It's a break. I mean, it's such a great break. One of the greatest, like, rim shots that happens right before. And this part is very, it's still got the groove, but it's very, like, kind of square the way it. kind of square the way Ahmaud was playing before that. Magical. I mean, it is magical. It really is magical. All right, my next...

And again, a live recording, which is insane. Has everything we've done... Everything has been live. Or live on television. Well, this next one is the first one that's not live, and it's also the first one that doesn't have Israel Crosby or Vernal Fournier. This is from the 1970 album, The Awakening,

on the Impulse record label. Heavily sampled. Heavily sample. Yeah, this is... I love music. This features Jamil Nasir on the bass and Frank Gant on the drums. And I Love Music, sampled by the world, by Nas and the world is yours famously. But the whole track is pretty killing. Dilla used to love this record.

It's really this. Here I'm on for like five minutes run through these changes like this. 1970. Yeah, so he's kind of a different player at this point. Yeah, he's on impulse now. Yeah, the sound is different. His approach is slightly different. I mean, he's maturing and he's exploring things more.

And this, I mean, I heard him many times live. This is really, this is the way he was playing, like live. Agreed, I agree. He sounds, when I heard him live, he sounded more like this than he did on the live. No, he was always moving. He was always moving forward. All right, next up, you got it. Okay.

Ooh, I got another bangor, but we're going back in time. back to 1958. This is, it could happen to you from the live with the spotlight again. Oh, okay. That's so good.

We gotta start. That is so good. This is another, this is another, this is another one of those like, you know, do we slop our way in? Do we,

good? But this is just, this is just like, they ease their way directly into the swing. Ah, there we are. Party's gone.

It's like you walk into the party. Hey, I'm here. Oh. Glob how? Uh. Like getting slapped in the face. And no pickups on those. Just straight.

But do you like that melody. Yeah. Brian Blade, very influenced by Pernailfurt, but she's brushwork. There just aren't too many bands that sound like this. Yeah, and their two feel was very unique. Because it's like, it's got a little bit of a lop.

There's a lilt. Lalt. Lop. A l'olv. A l'olv. A lalve. A l'alve. And because the way Vernel for him, he's not like just, he's like, he's like, he's like, tic-tik-a-tik-tuk.

It's not that straight kind of swing. Oh. No, like, pickups on this. I love that. It's not like, but don't be. But don't. And the residents of Israel, Krosby. There's so much joy.

There's so much playfulness in all of these recordings. I mean, any of the stuff to turn it down is sacrile-like. All right, can we talk about the elephant in the room, please? Okay. No, literally, there's an elephant sitting right over there. One of us was going to make a dad joke. You beat me to it. What do you got?

Influence on Miles Davis. I guess this isn't a huge elephant. Yeah, Miles talked about it. Yeah, openly. Oh, yeah. He spoke about it in his book. It's on record. Okay, yeah.

The thing what I'm noticing here, like, there's very direct ways in terms of repertoire and approaches and even like some of the arrangements on, like, the Miles at Carnegie Hall, I believe it was, and some of the kind of mini big band stuff that he really took, the trio versions, or at least the approaches that the Amad Jamal Trio, and he talked about this, Miles Davis,

and used that for these arrangements, you know, as a template, you know, as a model for a lot of that stuff. But what I'm hearing on this, and I never really thought about it like this, I think Amad had a huge influence on Miles in terms of how Miles played melodies. I couldn't agree more. Okay. Yeah. Yes, you could.

Come on. Keep agreeing. I agree so much. Let's go next level with it. No, no. You're absolutely right. You know, it's like, because solo-wise, I mean, and it's not like Miles was derivative in terms of it, but it was more like the way,

it's like you could just feel this resonance of how Amad Jamal used space. You know, honored the melody on these great standards, but also was fine to like let it go, almost like where the listener's imagination is going. And then to come back in it, as you said, never more than 10 seconds away from the melody. I mean, that's all Miles and the space, you know, and the elegance. But, Peter, your theory here holds up with evidence

because like when you listen to young miles playing with Byrd, he's got some of his mild sensibilities. He's not Dizzy Gillespie. He's not trying to be this like superhero trumpet player playing all this flash, right? He still... I think he was... The really only stuff he was.

But he was doing more of it than he would do after Amma Jemal's influence on him. So you can hear him playing less and less and less. Yeah. As... And he talked about Jamal's influence on him so much so that... I don't know if you remember we did that episode

on the four prestige records, the relax and work and cook and steam in. And the pianist on those albums was Red Garland. And Miles told Red specifically, do that Amad Jamal thing way up high on the piano, play less, try to sound like that. He wanted that sound. And you can hear it in Miles' own playing,

and you can hear it in the direction the bands went, especially around this time. Now, obviously, Miles went his own direction even more eventually away from this. Yeah, he was definitely trying, you know, it was a competitive landscape for trumpet players in the bebop era when he came right into the figure

when he came to New York, when Miles did. Obviously, Dizzy Gillespie was the towering giant, but then you had Fast Navarro, Clifford Brown, not that long. Like, these were players that maybe fit into that classic bebop, trumpet player mold better than Miles, in a way.

Because Miles hadn't, he had a sound, though. Like, you hear his sound on that, but he didn't have the dexterity. He was really good, I mean, for sure. But, like, once, you know, maybe Ahmad kind of unlocked, because we always think of Miles, you know, the tastemaker, the original, the OG, like influenced by nobody influences everybody else.

That was later, right? It almost feels like Ahmad gave him license to be like, okay, I'm not going to imitate trumpet players. And maybe there's a little bit because I can't, because I'm picking the greatest ones that ever lived in the bebop era, happened to be around. But I'm going to pick something that's a little bit off the grid in terms of it's a different instrument,

but there's a resonance to that approach that's deep inside of me. So let me try some of that piano stuff over here, and it worked. Or not. It's a great take, Peter, and I think you're spot on. I really think you're right. and I think the evidence backs you up. Okay, my next poll here, this is interesting.

I don't know if you know this existed, but you know that there's a live at the Pershing volume 2. I do it, I don't know it that well. It's so good. It's some of the same dates. It's for the same dates, right? Same band, same style of ranging. So this is Cherokee from, and this was released,

so it was recorded the same day as the same weekend as the Live of the Pershing, but not for me, but released like three years later. This is Cherokee. Ah, yes, like a half time three-fourth thing. Yes, I do. Just like a half-time three-four thing. Yeah.

And Israel Crosby, doing some heavy lifting here. Ah. Man. Amadu, it's not playing. Oh, my God. And that's the thing. If it's not so clearly delineated, like, this is my solo, this is your solo. Right.

You can come and go as you please. Yes. You know? That was their thing. That was their thing. So great. Let's bring it back. Oh.

Get the drummer sound. Really one of the only times you hear this. Yeah. What a brush master. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, now I'm remembering, man, what an influence he had on Blade. Oh, yeah, you can hear it.

Greg Hutchinson, too. Brush stuff? Yeah. That's a good one, man. It's incredible. There's a funny part at the end. There's a funny part at the end. Sorry, I'm sorry. There's only a little bit left.

Again, these little arrangements, these little cues. Hey, that'd be a run-on sentence in the lesser hands. But a good thing he, like, pieced out for a... 90 seconds, you know? He built up the street cred to do that throughout the whole thing. He loves that, really. I like that. You hear a guy in the corner just say like, I like that.

I like that. Give me another. That's so funny. That's so good, good. Yeah, I listened to that way back in the day. We actually played that arrangement. I'm remembering now Chris McBride Trio a couple times. He likes doing that one.

Man, I was just made a note here. Israel Crosby, I mean, I knew this. I just, I guess it was out of side, out of mind kind of situation. But we look at this sort of late 50s, even from the mid-50s, all the way up to the 60s, the bass player that I think dominates, you know, piano trials, quintets, like the great, you know, prestige and blue note and, you know, impulse records and I mean, there's a bunch of great bass players, but I think Paul Chambers, yeah, of the young bass players is the one that always comes to mind. I mean, he was just so great and really dominated in a way. But I got to put Israel

Krosby up there. Maybe not in the volume of recordings that he was on. And certainly was, you know, very heavily during that whole period playing with Ahmed, Amid Jamal. But I got to, like, in terms of like technique and swing and sound, I don't know, I gotta, is that, is that a

controversial hot time? I don't think it's controversial. I think he sounds great. I think he sounds great in this band. He's a little bit older than everybody, too. He's like 10 years older than Amad Jamal and he's, he's, he just feels so solid back there. So solid. You just feel like there's nothing that Amma could do to throw him

or that Vernal Fornier could do to knock him off that beat, you know what I mean? Like, it's just like so, so big. All right, what's your next pick? Okay, we got Willow Weep for me back from the Aalahomber in 1961 live now. It's great, great call. Ah, ease your way in.

Yeah. So you get some of that. Oscar Peters to me. your little Tatum influence, right? Stretch and pull and push a melody. And then his blues chops. Like, we don't think about that as his go-to, but it's so good. When needed.

So many of these live recordings. And we didn't cherry pick. I mean, there's a bunch of stuff on these records I could have. This is a hard set list to make. Yeah. I mean, it was like very hard and very easy at the same time. But the precision, like, it's very rare. great on great live recordings

that everything's perfect. You know what I mean? Even with like Oscar Peterson or something and like it's just uncanny like his because he's very exposed you know I mean this is a lot of playing for him in a way

A lot of brushes so that you can hear every detail. He hits any cacks you're going to hear it. Exactly. Very precision oriented. That's a great pull. Man, are we on the last track? I'm Shad. Pity Shad.

Yeah. Petey said. Pee do baby talk. I'm actually going to to call an Audible. So as we were listening to these tracks from Live at the Pershing, like I had something picked from earlier in his career. Yeah. And I'm kind of realizing, like I didn't want to do too much from Live at the Pershing. But then I was like, yeah, but I can't do an ultimate playlist without including this. Uh-oh.

This is S-tier. Not for piano tuning, but... This is What's New. This is the last track on that iconic album. And there's just some moments in here that are my favorite moments in music. Yeah. And have been more influential on me than anything else. Yeah. Maybe I've ever heard.

Man, this is such a unique and templateable version. Way of playing a ballad? Oh. Everything. The chord changes, the sort of walking ballad feel, than this. But the Wu Tang about to jump in, you know? Like, he's kind of not in a piano trio. You know what was influenced by this a lot of Ray Brown and Ray Brown Trio later?

He did a lot of incorporate a lot of these things really well, like in the 90s and 2000, up until he was no longer with us. It's just phenomenal. It's staggeringly good. And thank you, I'm on Jamal, for the incredible music and an amazing career and the wonderful light and energy that you gave off. Every time I saw him live, I left feeling elevated and, like, light on my feet. Let's do some categories, Peter.

He did the thing. Desert Island tracks. What you got? I got, but not for me. For me, it was a close call between Point Sienna and But Not for me, but, but there's something about that that'll always get me off my seat get me moving.

Well, we're good because I got Point Sienna. Oh, perfect. You got me covered. You got me covered. And normally I'd be like, oh, I'm not going to go with that, but I'm like, man. You got to have it.

You got to have it. Yeah. Apex moment, I have, speaking of Point Sienna, that snap on Point Sienna right before the Badoom, do, do, do, do, do. I just even just... When Vernel goes to the ride for the first time? But even just the snap right before that.

Oh, right. Oh, I got to. Just that one moment. Right there. It doesn't matter. if it was the first, I mean, the first time I heard it, I thought I couldn't walk. Yeah. Like, I lost feeling in my legs and knees.

And I still feel that way. Every time I hear it, it's just still causes, like, immense stank face and joy. Man, I'm so torn here. I put down, like, from the, from the live video from 60, the excerpt for the blues when they go into the swing. It's just such a deep thing. But I'm also thinking about on Old Devil Moon, the way it ends to me is like, because, And I think this is true on, like, he had these slick endings that are so easy to learn, actually.

This is the thing. Amad played so much stuff, not all of it. He played some stuff that you're like, oh, my God, I could never play that. But most of his stuff compared to an Oscar Peterson or Herbie Hancock or a Chick-Korea or a McCoy-Tiner, it's very accessible because there's space, there's clarity to it. Now, to do it well and like him, it's very hard because it's very stylized. And, like, there's these bigger picture things that are part of it, beyond just. just the notes he's putting into play. Well, he's also making things seem easier than they are. There's a certain amount, like, of connection, I'd say, with Bill Evans.

And I wonder how much Bill Evans, he certainly was influenced by a mod. You would have to be. You know. But anyway, the way that that ends, and we didn't get to the end, but I'll just say, everybody go and listen to the way that ends because it's just another one of his little cute tag endings with a little bit of a variation. But it's so, it's such a lift. And he had this ability because of everything that came before it.

You know, it's not just like, okay, now we're done. Bam, then we go to the next tune. It's like you're elevated, you're elevated, and then you end on this high, you know? So I'm going to go with that. Snobometer. Two. Seven.

Opposite ends. You think it's snobby. I think the ultimate Amad Jamal playlist that we've put together is snobby. Yeah. Why, what do you? I think it's very listenable music that I could put on for. I'm sorry, does the snobometer measure listenability? Yeah, it measures how snobby it is.

like how accessible it is. How would a general audience like it? And I think if you put on, but not for me, or really any of these tracks, someone who doesn't know anything about jazz, there's no context for it, would still be like,

well, that feels great. So it's just accessibility, what you're changing it into. The snobobics? Changing it. No, I take it to be like, okay, you're at a party

and you're like, hey, Rob. You always come up with these elaborate scenarios from the snobbing. Snobbiness. How do you measure snobbing? You get a guy with like a corduroy jacket with a strap on the back. Oh, sorry, you don't come up with elaborate scenarios.

Think about this. The guy named Rob, with two Bs. Two Bs. Rob, B, B. He reads the Robbba. It's short for Robbie, which is short for Robert, which added a B. Rabinsky. And then I kept the extra B.

So you come up to me, hey, Rob, blah, blah. How are you? What have you been listening to lately? And he says, you have a pipe, but it's not lit. It's just kind of there. He says, oh, I've been listening to you'll hear an ultimate Amal and Jamal playlist recently. Would you be like, snob? Snob.

I'd be like, nerd. I don't know if I would be like snob. Okay, anyway. Okay. Seven. I mean, I feel like the stymometer is only working if we're completely polar opposites. It's how it's always works. You know what it is?

I just feel like Ahmaud in general does have a little bit of snobby. It's totally accessible. I agree. But like Bill Evans, I think, is most of his stuff is a two because it's like people know him, people like him. Can we spend a couple minutes? People do know and like Amma, but they even heard him quite as much. I don't know. Can we spend a couple minutes on the name?

Because you and I have been saying it differently this whole time. I think it's Ahmed, Jamal. I believe it's Ahmed. Yeah. I used to say Ahmad all the time. Right. Someone corrected me. Yeah.

Okay. Okay. Agree to agree. Is this better than KLB? Now, by is this, we mean this ultimate Ahmad Jamal playlist. Yes. No, he didn't. What?

Yes, he did. Are you serious? You don't agree. I have maybe, so I'm close. I think that. I mean, for me, I like it. I like... It's a little bit of a...

That's apples and orange. Like, we're cherry. Yeah. I mean, if you were to do, like, the ultimate. Miles Davis playlist versus this, then that would be a real argument. I think this might be that. We should do that. We should do a draft at some point.

Well, this is awesome, man. We very rarely get into K-O-B territory tying or exceeding, so that's exciting. I mean, this is the apex for me. This is pinnacle. This is as good as art can get. I think it's just up there. We've been to the mountain top. We've been to the mountain top.

Right. Thank you. Thank you, buddy. Yeah, cool. Well, this was fun, man. Yeah. Until next time. You'll hear it.