Ahmad's Blues—Ahmad Jamal (1958)
Ahmad's Blues is another live album that I'm pretty fond of. Though unlike
A Night At Birdland it's not all taken from one performance but is instead culled from a series of live dates in Chicago. As a former resident of that city I wish I knew where it was recorded. Some of those old Jazz clubs are still open and it would be nice to have a mental image to put with the music.
Anyway, I should probably mention that unlike my previous review this album is not all sweat and fire and intensity, in fact it's totally background music. That may sound like a put-down but it's not at all. I mean that in the sense that, say, Tortoise is background music. It's low key and it just kind of permeates the air, coloring everything around you.
This is also very intimate music, just drums, bass and keyboard played with a lot of restraint and subtlety. It's also filled with a lot of interesting, mellow takes on jazz standards. My favorite of these is probably "Autumn Leaves", which is presented with very train-like chugging drum beat passing through cascading streams of piano.
Ugly cover art aside, this one is definitely a terrific late night album and certainly worth a listen if you enjoy that kind of thing.