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Tranquility - Ahmad Jamal (1968)
There’s a lot of great piano trio music in the jazz canon, but Jamal made some of my favorites.
He had a way of building a structure for a song and filling it in with spirit and technique, all while never sounding busy. He didn’t really outshine his bandmates or show them up, but he never really leaned on them either.
He continued making engaging and innovative music right into the last few years of his life.
This late 60s / early 70s era contains my favorite Jamal records, although you could pick most any stretch and find some gems.
I love the feeling that you’re riding along as he and his band find how things are going to go. There’s a sense of discovery that you share across time while you listen to it all unfold.
