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The Pacific Jazz Institute at Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley presents for five nights, pianist/composer Ahmad Jamal touring in support of his new release A Quiet Time. Band members joining Mr. Jamal are James Cammack (bass), Herlin Riley (drums) and Manuel Badrena (percussion). Set times on Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday at 7:30pm. Set times on Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm and 10:00pm. Doors open at 6:00pm Tuesday and 5:30pm Wednesday – Saturday.

Legendary pianist and composer Ahmad Jamal is an incomparable icon in Jazz today. Jamal initially began playing the piano at the age of three and hasn’t stopped since. He is one of the few jazz musicians who has achieved cross over commercial success, having several hits on the R&B charts, as well as performing and selling out concert halls around the world. Ahmad Jamal’s performances are a captivating experience; while he encourages his rhythm section to diversify and play a great deal independently, he manages to lead the whole ensemble with his variation of space and silence, tension and release. In the end, the melodies he produces are always a seamless phenomenon.

No stranger to hit songs (Ahmad is one of the few jazz artists to score a top 10 pop hit with an instrumental – “Poinciana”), Ahmad has also been sampled extensively by hip-hop artists such as Jay-Z, Nas, and Common, among others. Last year, the French government inducted Mr. Jamal, for his exceptional accomplishments in “American Classical Music,” into its prestigious Order of the Arts and Letters, naming him Officier de L’Ordre Des Arts et Des Lettres (Officer, Order of Arts and Letters). In being named Officer, Mr. Jamal joins some of the most important American artists and writers including Ornette Coleman, Ralph Waldo Ellison, William Faulkner, Ella Fitzgerald, Allen Ginsberg, Toni Morrison and Charles Wadsworth.

Ahmad Jamal offers another brilliant recording in the pantheon of his legacy with his latest album A Quiet Time (2010). Jim Macnie from Downbeat claims that “these days everything about his playing is a bit sharper, a touch more vivid, a smidge more fanciful. A Quiet Time is filled with audacious maneuvers. Frequent tempo changes, sudden melody switcheroos and unexpected flourishes are the norm. Some are feints that broaden the music's character - zigging one way while zagging another. Each is subtly accomplished, complementary to its predecessor while offering an individualistic perspective. Several are guided by a steely sense of control that has long been part of the pianist’s artistic personality."

www.ahmadjamal.net/ahmad_main.asp