AHMAD JAMAL: BE JOYOUS IN HIS LAMENT

The Ahmad Jamal Trio: I Love Music
From The Awakening (Impulse, 1970)

Ahmad Jamal: Lament
From At The Top: Poinciana Revisited (Impulse, 1969)

Ok, I wanted to take a break from hitting you over the head with hip-hop posts nonstop while I’m in purge mode.

During Rock the Bells, when Pete Rock came on-stage to join Nas and Premier, Primo dropped a brief snippet of “I Love Music” in honor of “The World Is Yours,” and frankly, that shit sounded AMAZING over a loud sound system. I don’t know if all jazz can pull that off but Jamal’s compositions, with their sense of playfulness and melodic zest absolutely can fill a space in a sublime way.

And as it turns out, a few days later, I was writing about how Brian Green managed to ruin an otherwise great loop of Jamal’s “Lament” and I went back to listen to “Lament” and cotdamn, was Jamal’s Impulse! catalog of the late ’60s/early ’70s just a thing of beauty. So before I plunge ya’ll back into the purge, wanted to hit you with two slices of loveliness to lighten your weekend.