Ahmad Jamal Trio - Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958

2007

On January 16 and 17, 1958 pianist Ahmad Jamal, bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernell Fournier shared their elegant, intimate and supremely well-crafted jazz with the audience at the Pershing Lounge inside Chicago's Pershing Hotel, a venerable institution located on East 64th Street, west of South Cottage Grove Avenue. Nearly half-a-century later, Gambit Records issued all 19 tracks from the Pershing engagements on one CD, bringing before the public a body of work that two generations of jazz heads had gathered piecemeal on Argo and Chess LPs or various partial CD reissues. Tacked on to this historical edition is an edited version of "Poinciana," released as a single after it became apparent that it had hit potential. A humorous moment occurred when the trio launched into a rapid rendition of "Music Music Music," a pop hit borrowed from perky Teresa Brewer. Ahmad Jamal transformed each familiar melody into a sculpted ritual of improvisation, conducted with brilliant precision and immaculate ease. AllMusic Review by arwulf arwulf