Muhammad Ahmad

Ahmad Jamal's minimalist style has served him well throughout his career, as he enjoys making frequent sudden detours in the midst of a performance, with his intuitive rhythm section able to adapt on the fly. His longtime bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad are joined by Latin percussionist Manolo Badrena for these 2007 sessions.

Ahmad Jamal leads his long-running trio with electric bassist James Cammack and drummer Idris Muhammad for these 2004 studio sessions. Mixing it up with four standards and five originals, the trio sounds as if they have just completed a several-week tour playing these numbers every night. Jamal begins "I'm Old Fashioned" in a fairly straight-ahead fashion, taking only a few sudden detours near the end of the performance. The old chestnut "Yours Is My Heart Alone" was a favorite of Oscar Peterson during the '60s, yet Jamal finds his own path in this lyrical gem by Franz Lehár. "My Heart Stood Still" is one of the most beloved ballads penned by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, though the pianist has a bit of fun with it by speeding up the tempo at times (evidently racing, rather than stilling one's heart, though the symbolism is the same for love).

Mostly recorded in Paris, with two additional tracks from New York, this absorbing collection is a testament to the continuing ability of Ahmad Jamal to startle and engage jazz listeners who are tired of Tyner/Evans clones and want to hear something different. An equal mixture of standards and Jamal compositions, some of which move through several contrasting sections, this CD reaches its peaks when Jamal and company dive in and work around a single bass ostinato and a propulsive rhythm groove. Bassists James Cammack (Paris) and Jamil Nasser (New York) provide the former, drummer Idris Muhammad and percussionist Manolo Badrena are in charge of the latter, and a tough-sounding George Coleman turns up on tenor on the New York tracks…