Ahmad Jamal passed away on Sunday after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 92. He married Laura Hess-Hey in the 80s. They had a daughter named Sumayah Jamal.

The death of Jamal was confirmed by his daughter Sumayah. She revealed that he passed away in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts.

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Ahmad Jamal’s Legacy

Jamal left behind a legacy of music that spanned seven decades and inspired generations of musicians, including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett.

He was born in Pittsburgh in 1930 and started playing piano at the age of three. He was a prodigy who joined the musicians’ union at 14 and formed his own trio at 17. He moved to Chicago in 1948 and became a fixture on the city’s vibrant jazz scene. He converted to Islam in 1950 and changed his name from Frederick Russell Jones to Ahmad Jamal.

Jamal developed a distinctive style of piano playing that was marked by his use of space, dynamics, and rhythm. He played with a light touch and a lyrical sensibility, often leaving gaps between his phrases and creating contrasts between loud and soft passages. He also had a keen sense of orchestration, using his bassist and drummer as equal partners in creating intricate patterns and textures.

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Jamal’s breakthrough came in 1958 with the release of his live album At The Pershing: But Not For Me, which featured his classic rendition of “Poinciana”. The album sold over a million copies and stayed on the charts for over two years. It also caught the attention of Miles Davis, who was impressed by Jamal’s concept of space and phrasing. Davis recorded several of Jamal’s compositions and arrangements, such as New Rhumba, Ahmad’s Blues, and Billy Boy.

Jamal continued to record and perform throughout the 1960s and 1970s, experimenting with different formats and styles. He played with electric keyboards and added elements of funk, soul, and R&B to his repertoire. He also explored his roots in African and Arabic music, traveling to Morocco and Algeria in 1959.

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In the 1980s, Jamal returned to acoustic piano and focused on his own compositions. He received many honors and awards for his contributions to jazz, including a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master award in 1994, a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2007, and induction into France’s Order of Arts and Letters in 2009.

Jamal retired from touring in 2019 but continued to compose until his death.