Ahmad Jamal Trio: At The Pershing (180g, coloured vinyl, 4 bonus tracks) [20TH CENTURY]

Why you'll love it

This 180g coloured vinyl reissue adds four bonus tracks from the same night to the original eight. The album spent 107 weeks on Billboard's album charts and went on to sell more than a million copies.

This edition

• 180g vinyl
• Coloured vinyl
• 4 bonus tracks

About the album

On January 16, 1958, the tape machines were rolling all night at the Pershing Lounge in Chicago's Pershing Hotel. Ahmad Jamal recorded 43 tracks across his sets that evening, picked eight for the album, and ended up with one of the best-selling jazz records of the decade.

The secret is space. Jamal plays sparingly and lets Israel Crosby's bass and Vernel Fournier's drums carry the groove, then drops in perfectly placed flourishes. "Poinciana" rides a light Latin beat for eight hypnotic minutes and became a jukebox and party favourite, while "But Not For Me," "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" and "Moonlight In Vermont" glide. Bonus cuts include "Cherokee" and "I'll Remember April." Dave Usher produced and Malcolm Chisholm engineered, and the room sound is so close and warm you can practically hear the glasses on the tables.

Miles Davis was a famous admirer of that spare style, and The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings lists the album in its core collection. Jamal put the proceeds towards his own Chicago club and restaurant, the Alhambra, which is exactly what we'd do with a hit record, except ours would have more shelving.

Also at Kops: more Ahmad Jamal on vinyl · browse Classic Jazz

Tracklist

Listen

On Argo / 20th Century (cat# 350259), a reissue of the 1958 live album.