Ballades (Ahmad Jamal album)

2019 studio album by Ahmad Jamal

Ballades

Studio album by

Ahmad Jamal

Released| September 13, 2019
Genre| Jazz
Length| 50:44
Label| Jazz Village JV3357015758
Ahmad Jamal chronology
| Marseille
(2017)  | Ballades
(2019)  |

|
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Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
AllAboutJazz| [1]

Ballades is the final album by American jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. Consisting mostly of solo piano recordings, the album was recorded at the same time as the 2016 album Marseille. Jamal wrote of the album, "It includes my solo version of “Poinciana”, recorded between takes during our session for “Marseille”. My original version remains one of the most successful recordings in the history of instrumental music; and one of the most plagiarized."[2]

## Critical reception

[edit]

In a review for KCRW, Tom Schnabel writes, "Ballades was released only at the insistence of Jamal’s executive producer, Seydou Barry, and we are fortunate to have it. Solo piano distills Jamal’s genius to its essence—a distillation involving a lifetime of creative imagination and superb musicianship. It amounts to the full evolution of a life in music from one of our greatest musical artists."[3]

Dan Bilawsky writes for All About Jazz, "His calling cards—vamping moorings, dancing lines, intelligent restraint, mastery over time, orchestral visions, a Midas touch—all play a part in the production. Originals like "Because I Love You," with the in-and-out left hand ostinatos lighting the way, and "Whisperings," with both seductive and scampering charms, mark Jamal as a man wholly comfortable in his skin. … he remains a treasure capable of stirring passions without force or forced ambitions."[1]

## Track listing

[edit]

All compositions by Ahmad Jamal unless noted.

1. "Marseille" – 4:56
2. "Because I Love You" – 6:00
3. "I Should Care" (Paul Weston, Axel Stordahl, Sammy Cahn) – 3:25
4. "Poinciana" (Nat Simon, Buddy Bernier) – 4:28
5. "Land of Dreams" (Eddie Heywood, Jr., Norman Gimbel) – 2:16
6. "What's New?" (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) – 4:52
7. "So Rare" (Jerry Herst, Jack Sharpe) – 3:05
8. "Whisperings" – 3:30
9. "Spring Is Here" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)/"Your Story" (Bill Evans) – 5:50
10. "Emily" (Johnny Mandel, Johnny Mercer) – 4:21

## Personnel

[edit]

* Ahmad Jamal – piano
* James Cammack – bass (tracks 1, 7, 9)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Bilawsky, Dan (September 5, 2019). "Ahmad Jamal: Ballades". All About Jazz. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
2. ^ "Ballades: The New Release". AhmadJamal.com. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
3. ^ Schnabel, Tom (September 10, 2019). "Ahmad Jamal's transcendent new solo album, Ballades". KCRW.com. Retrieved September 21, 2019.

* v
* t
* e

Ahmad Jamal

Studio albums|

* Ahmad Jamal Plays (1955)
* The Ahmad Jamal Trio (1955)
* Count 'Em 88 (1956)
* Ahmad's Blues (1958)
* The Piano Scene of Ahmad Jamal (1959)
* Jamal at the Penthouse (1959)
* Happy Moods (1960)
* Listen to the Ahmad Jamal Quintet (1960)
* Macanudo (1962)
* The Roar of the Greasepaint (1965)
* Extensions (1965)
* Rhapsody (1966)
* Heat Wave (1966)
* Cry Young (1967)
* The Bright, the Blue and the Beautiful (1968)
* Tranquility (1968)
* The Awakening (1970)
* Ahmad Jamal '73 (1973)
* Jamalca (1974)
* Jamal Plays Jamal (1974)
* Genetic Walk (1975)
* Steppin' Out with a Dream (1976)
* One (1978)
* Intervals (1980)
* Night Song (1980)
* Digital Works (1985)
* Rossiter Road (1986)
* Crystal (1987)
* Pittsburgh (1989)
* I Remember Duke, Hoagy & Strayhorn (1994)
* The Essence Part One (1995)
* Big Byrd: The Essence Part 2 (1995)
* Nature: The Essence Part Three (1997)
* Picture Perfect (2001)
* Ballades (2019)

Live albums|

* Ahmad Jamal Trio Volume IV (1958)
* At the Pershing: But Not for Me (1958)
* At the Pershing, Vol. 2 (1958)
* Portfolio of Ahmad Jamal (1958)
* Ahmad Jamal's Alhambra (1961)
* All of You (1961)
* Ahmad Jamal at the Blackhawk (1962)
* Poinciana (1963)
* Naked City Theme (1964)
* Ahmad Jamal at the Top: Poinciana Revisited (1968)
* Freeflight (1971)
* Outertimeinnerspace (1972)
* Recorded Live at Oil Can Harry's (1976)
* Live at Bubba's (1980)
* In Concert (1981)
* American Classical Music (1982)
* Live at the Montreal Jazz Festival 1985 (1985)
* Live! At Blues Alley (1991)
* Live in Paris 1992 (1992)
* Chicago Revisited: Live at Joe Segal's Jazz Showcase (1992)
* Live in Paris 1996 (1996)
* Ahmad Jamal with the Assai Quartet (1998)
* Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958 (2007)
* Complete Live at the Spotlite Club 1958 (2007)

Compilations|

* Standard Eyes (1967)

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