Search - Ahmad Trio Jamal :: Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958

The ORIGINAL LP gets 5 stars, but this CD has hiss ...

M. R. Traska | Chicago, IL | 02/09/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"... moreover, there's a better alternative on LP with cleaner sound (I'll get to that in a moment), and that's why I can't give this remastered CD five stars. The performances, on the other hand, are timeless, incomparable, and classic -- if you're ANY kind of jazz fan, this belongs in your permanent music library.



At The Pershing (recorded here in Chicago) has been so influential on so many jazz artists, but more than that, it is just SO easy to listen to, bright, inventive, engaging, hypnotic. It draws you in and holds you right on through the last cut. Long one of my most valued jazz recordings, it includes what is probably the definitive version of "Poinciana," which Jamal made forever his own with this performance.



But like I said, there's a better alternative on VINYL, if you can find it: Sun Set: Live At The Pershing Vol 1 & 2 / At The Blackhawk, a 2-LP set by Chess of the original Argo 1958 and 1961 recordings. Unlike the folks who put out this "Complete Live At The Pershing Lounge" CD, Chess got a good master somewhere -- and the sound quality of the LP set does justice to the performances, which are just completely enchanting. I used to own this LP set and played it to death for years, over and over until I lost it in a building fire (luckily, I'd made a cassette tape copy that survived, which I played until *that* wore out and self-destructed). I can still remember most of Poinciana bar by bar in my head and never tire of it.



[...]



I cannot imagine that anyone in his right mind who has a copy of the 2-LP Sun Set would ever part with it -- but if you DO see a copy on vinyl in reasonably good shape, snatch it up quickly!!! You'll be glad you did: this is the best that Ahmad Jamal has *ever* played, and I love it still. So will you.



Barring that, I guess you'll just have to settle for this second-best CD -- but it's still VERRRRRY much worth having. Even badly remastered Ahmad Jamal is still a joy!

"

Imagine Miles Davis Hearing This Recording for the first tim

William E Donoghue | Healdsburg CA USA | 11/03/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"But Not For Me/Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing [Lounge} changed Miles Davis' Life; the use of space (what he did not play), the songs chosen (Miles later recorded many of them with his quintet in which he hired Red Garland because he sounded like Ahmad Jamal. I can only close my eyes and see a scene where Miles Davis is listen to this for the first time. This is, in spite of the fact that Ahmad Jamal doesn't play much like this today, a desert island disc for me. The interplay between bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernell Fournier reminds one of the interplay Bill

Evans achieve with his trios at both tne beginning (Vanguard trio) and the end of his career.The trio is a living breathing thing. A Trio can be a beautiful thing and this is one of the trios to be remembered."

Hard To Find, Easy To Love

William Polhemus | Katy, TX United States | 03/06/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I very much appreciate Amazon.com's "heroic efforts" at obtaining this recording. I had tried so many places subsequent to ordering this CD, attempting to find it for immediate purchase, and come away empty-handed, that I was convinced the thing actually didn't exist, and Amazon would eventually inform me that they just couldn't get it.



Then, lo and behold, I got an email right about the time of my despair, saying it had shipped.



I have to say that the version of "All The Things You Are" on this record is absolutely superb!



Regarding the sound quality, although it is billed as a "remaster," it is obvious that they had such poor mono masters to work with in the first place that there was only so much that could be done. A previous reviewer mentioned the presence of "high frequency hiss." He was NOT overstating things at all!



Of course, you can imagine what the situation must have been like, setting up to record at a Jazz club with relatively inferior (by today's standards) monaural equipment. It isn't surprising that it would turn out as it did. Nevertheless, it's good enough to see the brilliance of Ahmad Jamal even fifty years ago!"