Immediately following The Awakening, the great Ahmad Jamal moves to Rhodes -as in the electric piano, not the place. The location is the Montreux Jazz Festival, and the 1972 release Outertimeinnerspace is another perfect album; arguably an easier achievement with only two tracks (further performances from this date appear on Freeflight, also on Impulse!), each comprising an entire side of the LP.
The first of these lengthy, searching improvisations is ‘Bogota’, composed by Richard Evans and named after the high-altitude Columbian city; fitting for a track that seems to climb into orbit. Drummer Frank Gant and bassist Jamil Nasser (AKA Jamil Sulieman, perhaps because it sounds great in the announcer’s French pronunciation) hold down a driving 6/8 rhythm but Jamal loves to colour outside the lines, switching from piano to Rhodes for tranquil splashes of spirituality.
The band also switches to and from 4/4 time and Jamal quotes (among other things) ‘The Surrey with the Fringe on Top’ from the musical Oklahoma!, whose distance from Bogota confirms that The Ahmad Jamal Trio have truly transcended space and time.
For more pianistic perfection, check out our ‘Kings Of The Keys’ playlist or if like Jamal you feel like switching it up and going electric, try ‘One For The Rhodes’ instead!
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