[Dixielandjazz] Ahmad Jamal, S.F. Bay Area through Sunday

[Janie McCue Lynch]

If you are close to the S.F. Bay area, this sounds like a great performance
to catch.... (Review follows, delete if too long)

Janie Lynch
janie39 at socal.rr.com


Nothing less than a classy set from piano master Jamal

By Jim Harrington, STAFF WRITER , www.insidebayarea.com



WHAT A GAME that was. At least that's what folks are telling me. 
While the Texas Longhorns were busy upsetting the USC Trojans for the
National Championship on Wednesday night, in what some are already calling
one of the greatest games in college football history, this critic was busy
watching Ahmad Jamal at Yoshi's at Jack London Square. 
Not a bad trade. 
The great pianist put on a tirelessly challenging evening of jazz music
during the opening set of a four-night run at the Oakland nightspot for his
appreciative local fans (who, we assume, were neither graduates of USC or
Texas). 
Accompanied by bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad, the
75-year-old Pittsburgh native opened with a rousing version of the classic 
Time on My Hands" that would have given chills to even Billie Holiday,
perhaps the best-known interpreter of the tune. 
From that number, which Jamal recorded on 1960's "Happy Moods" album, the
underrated jazz icon and his rhythm crew moved through heady versions of
songs that were far more cerebral than tuneful. 
Jamal and Cammack both looked quite classy as they took the stage dressed in
dark suits. Muhammad looked, well, different. The drummer seemed to have
stepped right off the pages of comic strip and met all the requirements of a
jazzman caricature — a beret titled to the side, a checkered sweater, red
mirrored sunglasses, goatee and colorful drumsticks. But there's nothing
overly stereotypical about his playing style, an innovative mix of
aggressive jazz and odd rhythmic signatures. Nope. That cat can play. 
Muhammad is the perfect drummer for Jamal, who mixes tempos and flavors so
freely that, with your eyes closed, you might assume that it was actually
two different pianists in the mix. 
"Time on My Hands" ended like a balloon pops and then the trio quickly set
the alarm with "The Awakening," which started off somewhat slow and finally
progressed to the point where Jamal was really showing off his famed fleet
fingers. The tempo changes on this title track from Jamal's 1970 album were
subtle, but very effective, and the crowd members were shook back and forth
like seafarers on a stormy voyage. 
The waters then calmed as the master pianist coaxed out a somber solo to
start his own composition "Acorn," which jazz fans can find on "Live at the
Montreal Jazz Festival 1985." But things again roughened up as the band
began to hop, skip and jump its way through seemingly scattershot rhythms
and wild phrasings. Jamal teased the audience as he moved momentarily into
almost sticky sweet passages, only to then backhand us with powerfully
eccentric punches on the keys. 
Cammack took his first spin under the spotlight on "Acorn," delivering a
very understated and elegant solo, and then gave way for a more demanding
turn by Muhammad. The drummer was forceful, almost to a fault, as he
combined military-style marching beats with tom-tom-like phrasing. Jamal,
however, obviously dug it — standing up from his piano at one point to just
enjoy the drummer's cadence. 
Jamal closed his show in usual fashion with an inspired take on his
signature song, "Poinciana." That's the song that made the pianist a star
and pushed 1958's "But Not for Me" to platinum status. (Jamal is one of the
few jazz artists to have sold a million copies of a single album.) As shown
at Yoshi's on Wednesday night, "Poinciana" has lost none of its power over
the years. 
Jazz fans are highly recommended to catch one of Jamal's shows at Yoshi's, which continue through Sunday. And — this is a bonus — you won't have to miss the National Championship game to do so.