The third volume of
Jazz Detective's recordings of the
Ahmad Jamal Trio,
Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse (recorded between 1966 and 1968) is also the last. Like its companions, it was supervised for release by label boss
Zev Feldman and
Jamal, who passed away in April 2023. The entire series was taped on reel-to-reel by club owner
Charlie Puzzo for DJ
Jim Wilke's jazz-themed radio program. His son
Charlie Puzzo, Jr. supervises the tape archive. Like its predecessors, this is a deluxe multi-disc package with copious liner notes from
Feldman, critic
Eugene Holley, Jr., and others, as well as personal reminiscences from pianists
Monty Alexander,
Joe Alterman, and comments from
Marshall Chess of the
Chess/
Cadet/
Argo family of labels.
On this slate of appearances,
Jamal was accompanied by bassist
Jamil Nasser and drummer
Frank Gant. The track list contains 11 unissued tunes, none duplicated from earlier volumes.
Set-opener "Gloria" is elegant and languid.
Jamal and
Nasser duet in tandem on the melody.
Gant enters with brushes as
Jamal begins altering the harmony, scraping chords on the inside of the piano and juxtaposing gently applied modal dissonance on top of jazz balladry. The version of
Errol Garner's "Misty" included here is nearly 13 minutes long.
Gant establishes a Latin-inflected beat, double-timing the tempo with snare, cowbell, and hi-hat.
Jamal moves across hard bop and weaves in traces of
Herbie Nichols' expansive harmonic range while offering blocky chords in his solo that serve to further
Gant's and
Nasser's groove. It transforms midway into dynamic, cinematic jazz.
Jamal pursues numerous directions with his breathtaking chord voicings. Speaking of film music, there is a glorious 15-minute read of
Henry Mancini's "Mr. Luck" from the film of the same name. It finds
Jamal acting the mischievous rascal as he takes that theme across bebop, hard bop, cool and modal jazz with an astonishing chromatic technique. It's followed by the standard "Autumn Leaves."
Jamal's version is light, airy, and jaunty as
Nasser walks the beat and
Gant adds knotty syncopation and a groove. The read of "Corcovado" here is mournful -- it's a haunting ballad for the first two minutes before
Jamal shifts it with gracefully dissonant chordal arpeggios. The tempo increases as the trio weds jazzy samba to hard bop. The film theme "Naked City" is an exercise in lithe, swinging hard bop underscored by
Jamal's speed-demon solo. The set closer is a heartbreaking yet commanding take on the movie theme (and now jazz standard) "Alfie" from the film of the same title. While the rhythm section walks the beat like a limpid vamp,
Jamal directly traces the lines of his influences from
Art Tatum and
Errol Garner to the hard and post-bop modernist soul-jazz of
Herbie Hancock in all three registers.
Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse, Vol. 3: 1966-1968 is a fitting send-off for this series, full of light, restless invention, lyric improvisation, and harmonic exploration in crystalline tones and nearly pristine sound. ~ Thom Jurek
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