At the Pershing: But Not for Me | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 1958 | |||
Recorded | January 16, 1958 | |||
Venue | Pershing Hotel, Chicago | |||
Genre | Jazz | |||
Label | Argo LP-628 | |||
Producer | Dave Usher | |||
Ahmad Jamal chronology | ||||
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At the Pershing: But Not for Me is a 1958 jazz album by pianist Ahmad Jamal. According to the album jacket, the tapes were made on January 16, 1958, at the Pershing Lounge of Chicago's Pershing Hotel and each set played that night was recorded, a total of 43 tracks, of which 8 were selected by Jamal for the album. [1] The LP was released as Argo Records LP-628. Jamal's previous releases on Argo had been from previously made masters; this was his first release recorded for Argo, and his first album recorded live. [2]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [3] |
The 1958 Down Beat review was mildly negative, referring to Jamal as playing "cocktail music"; the reviewer acknowledged Jamal's skill and influence on other jazz musicians such as Miles Davis, but wrote, "The trio's chief virtue is an excellent, smooth light but flexible beat", and "Throughout the music is kept emotionally, melodically, and organizationally innocuous." [1] In August 1958, Jet magazine referred to the album as "a nationwide hit". [4] The same month, Down Beat posted the album sales counts at over 47,000, noting that any (jazz) album selling 15,000 to 20,000 is "big." [1] The December 1958 Down Beat poll of music retailers showed that the album was the "number one jazz bestseller", and it stayed on Billboard Magazine album charts for 107 weeks. [1]
When Jamal was named one of the National Endowment for the Arts 1994 Masters of Jazz, the album was listed as having sold "more than a million copies." [5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings listed the album as part of its suggested “core collection” of essential recordings. [3]
The album yielded the seven-and-a-half-minute "Poinciana", [1] which was a "massive jazz hit"; [6] one of "the best selling albums of the decade, But Not For Me′s success enabled Jamal to open his own club and restaurant, the Alhambra, where his band held residence when not on tour." [6]
Evident were his unusually minimalist style and his extended vamps, according to reviewer John Morthland in 2010. [7]
On the NPR Basic Jazz Record Library radio show in 2011, Murray Horwitz and A.B. Spellman noted that "Poinciana" became "standard dance music" at parties, and, abridged, appeared on jukeboxes, because "Jamal lets the bass and drums establish a Latin groove that's very appealing. He floats lightly on top of it in a spare, tightly constructed series of embellishments that's full of what the popular music people call 'hooks.' There's a lot of repetition but no redundancy, if you know what I mean." [8]
Ahmad Jamal was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator. For six decades, he was one of the most successful small-group leaders in jazz. He was a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master and won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his contributions to music history.
Argo Records was a record label in Chicago that was established in 1955 as a division of Chess Records.
Dinah Jams is the second studio album by vocalist Dinah Washington. It was recorded live In Los Angeles in 1954. Billboard in 1955 wrote: "The instrumental solos are excellent and the entire package is well recorded in a smoothly paced collection of hot and cool jazz."
Jazz at Massey Hall is a live jazz album recorded on 15 May 1953 at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada. Credited to "the Quintet", the group was composed of five leading "modern" players of the day: Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach. It was the only time that the five musicians recorded together as a unit, and it was the last recorded meeting of Parker and Gillespie.
Vernel Anthony Fournier, known from 1975 as Amir Rushdan, was an American jazz drummer probably best known for his work with Ahmad Jamal from 1956 to 1962.
"But Not for Me" is a popular song originally written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin for the musical Girl Crazy (1930).
Israel Crosby was an American jazz double-bassist born in Chicago, Illinois, United States. One of the finest to emerge during the 1930s, he was also a member of the Ahmad Jamal trio for most of 1954 to 1962. He is credited with taking one of the first recorded full-length bass solos, on his 1935 recording of "Blues of Israel" with drummer Gene Krupa when he was only 16. Crosby died of a heart attack at age 43, two months after joining the Shearing Quintet.
Jamil Nasser and also credited on some of Ahmad Jamal's recordings as Jamil Sulieman, was an American jazz musician. He played double bass, electric bass, and tuba.
Some of My Best Friends Are...The Piano Players is a 1994 album by double bassist Ray Brown, accompanied by pianists Benny Green, Geoffrey Keezer, Ahmad Jamal, Dado Moroni, and Oscar Peterson.
"Poinciana" is a song by Nat Simon with English lyrics by Buddy Bernier and Spanish lyrics written in 1936 by Manuel Lliso.
Complete Live at the Spotlite Club 1958 is a live album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal featuring performances recorded at the Spotlight club in Washington D.C. in 1958, some of which were originally released on the albums Ahmad Jamal Trio Volume IV and Portfolio of Ahmad Jamal on the Argo label.
Ahmad Jamal Plays is an album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal featuring performances recorded in 1955 and originally released on the short-lived Parrot label in 1955. The album was rereleased as Chamber Music of the New Jazz on the Argo label after Chess Records purchased the master tapes in 1956.
The Ahmad Jamal Trio is an album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. It was released on the Epic label.
Art is an album by trumpeter Art Farmer, featuring performances recorded in 1960 and originally released on the Argo label. Farmer stated in 1995 that the album, which consists mainly of ballads, was his favorite.
The Ahmad Jamal Trio: Volume IV is a 1958 jazz album by pianist Ahmad Jamal. The album was recorded live on location at the Spotlight Club in Washington, DC, on September 6, 1958. The LP was released as Argo Records LP-636. This was Jamal's first recording following his surprise hit record, At the Pershing: But Not for Me.
Red's Good Groove is an album by American jazz pianist Red Garland with a quintet which was recorded in 1962 and released on the Jazzland label.
Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958 is an album by jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. It contains performances recorded at The Pershing Lounge in Chicago, Illinois, in 1958. Some of the performances were released on the albums At the Pershing: But Not for Me and At the Pershing, Vol. 2.
At the Pershing, Vol. 2 is an album by pianist Ahmad Jamal on the Argo label composed of selections from the same January 1958 engagement at the Pershing Lounge of Chicago's Pershing Hotel where the hit album At the Pershing: But Not for Me was recorded.
The Piano Scene of Ahmad Jamal is an album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. It contains performances from his earliest recording sessions for Okeh in 1951–52 in Chicago, and an Epic session from October 1955 in New York, NY. It includes additional selections from the sessions where the 1956 album The Ahmad Jamal Trio was recorded. The album was re-released in 2005 with additional tracks.
Standard Eyes is a compilation album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal featuring performances recorded from 1958 to 1961 for the Argo label and was released in 1967. It draws its selections from the original Argo albums Ahmad Jamal Trio Volume IV, Portfolio of Ahmad Jamal, Happy Moods, At the Pershing, Vol. 2, Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra, and All of You.