In Memoriam
American Jazz Pianist, Composer, Bandleader, Educator
July 2, 1930 - April 16, 2023 Ahmad Jamal was born July 2, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Before he formed his first trio in 1951, Jamal worked in Pittsburgh. This is the radio interview with Ahmad Jamal by Alvin Carter-Bey on September 28, 2014. ACB: We have a legendary piano stylist and I want to say Chicago’s own. The great Ahmad Jamal is here at WHPK. But he’s from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and lives on the East Coast, when he’s in the United States. Good afternoon, sir. AJ: Alvin Carter-Bey, I’ve been waiting for you, my friend. Thank you very kindly. I have been preparing for you with your erudite self. ACB: Listen, You’re such a wonderful man and we really appreciate you. AJ: Well, I appreciate your contribution to the culture of the world, Mr. Alvin Carter-Bey.
ACB: Thank you very much, sir. AJ: You’re delving into one of the world’s greatest art forms, American Classical Music. You coined that phrase for someone, I think. ACB: Hey, listen, for you. And I got into a little trouble. I had a lot of different discussions. Just recently, I read something about Gray Bartz dismissing the word Jazz altogether because he thought it was a word of profanity and it should not be used. AJ: He’s well-versed in the sodash, defined as profanity in Webster’s Dictionary. That’s correct. Gary Bartz is a scholar. ACB: So, you’re saying that he’s on target in respect to - AJ: Yeah, sure. That’s one of the definitions of jazz and a word that I don’t think correctly defines what we do, you know. Ellington didn’t call himself a jazz artist. John
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Coltrane didn’t. At least, I don’t think he did. I don’t call myself a jazz musician. I call myself an artist who plays American Classical Music. I’m not paranoid about the word Jazz because what we’ve done is sophisticated. But Jazz is not a sophisticated word. It was never meant to rise to the status that we know it as a worldwide cultural. Thousands of youngsters are learning this artform in the United States. You’ve heard of Berklee School of Music and the New School. Juilliard has Jimmy Heath as a graduate and tenured professor. He taught there for years. The late Dr. Yusef Lateef taught at Amherst, [where Archie Shepp taught]. People are studying this musical art form. It is powerful music. This is powerful stuff. For the rest of this article visit: https://issuu.com/joancartwright/docs/ musicman_2022_2-2-2022
