Taking leave
US jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal dies at 92
Ahmad Jamal is dead. The jazz pianist died at the age of 92. photo
© Remy Gabalda/AFP/dpa
“All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal,” Miles Davis is reported to have said. The award-winning jazz pianist was no stranger to the hip-hop world either.
He was known for his relaxed style and his influence on jazz legend Miles Davis: pianist Ahmad Jamal died at the age of 92, as reported by US media, citing his daughter Sumayah.
The jazz musician died on Sunday (local time) at home in Ashley Falls in the US state of Massachusetts, about 240 kilometers west of Boston. Complications from prostate cancer were given as the cause, as reported by the “New York Times” and the “Washington Post”.
The musician had his breakthrough in 1958 with the album “Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing: But Not For Me”. Numerous albums followed. Jamal has received numerous awards, including a Grammy for lifetime achievement in 2017. Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (1926-1991) is said to have once said of his friend: “All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal”. Jamal’s piano music has also been sampled in the hip-hop world, including by Jay-Z and Nas.
The artist was born as Frederick Russell Jones in the summer of 1930 in Pittsburgh. It was said that his father worked in a steel mill and his mother was a domestic worker. He is said to have started playing the piano at the age of three. After graduating from school, he then moved to Chicago, where he converted to Islam and took the name Ahmad Jamal.