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Foundational ‘Cool Jazz’ Pianist Ahmad Jamal Dead at 92

Photo: Frans Schellekens/Redferns

Ahmad Jamal, who helped create the “cool jazz” genre, has died. He was 92. His death was confirmed by his wife, Laura Hess Hay, in the Washington Post. Born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh, Jamal was known for his sparse and cool arrangements of such classics as “Poinciana,” hence the “cool jazz” label growing around his work and his collaborators. Jamal began playing piano at age 3, studying intensely at 7, and touring with an orchestra at 17. His band, the Three Strings, became the house band at Chicago’s Pershing Hotel. The album Live at the Pershing: But Not for Me became a classic of cool jazz. Miles Davis cited Jamal as an influence, writing in his biography, “When people say Jamal influenced me a lot, they’re right.” Jamal’s 1970 album The Awakening has been sampled by Gang Starr and Nas, among others. Jamal’s most recent appearance in pop culture was on the soundtrack for the Atlanta episode “Teddy Perkins.” Jamal was mourned online by the likes of Open Mike Eagle, The Good Place’s Marc Evan Jackson, and New York jazz radio station WKCR.

Foundational ‘Cool Jazz’ Pianist Ahmad Jamal Dead at 92