Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958 [Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered]

Ahmad Jamal | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 12, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Extra tracks, Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: Gambit Spain
• ASIN: B000MRA6AK
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,089 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #8 in Music > Pop > Easy Listening > Lounge
  • #14 in Music > Imports > Jazz
  • #49 in Music > Jazz > Modern Postbebop

Track Listings

1. But Not for Me [Live]

2. The Surrey with the Fringe on Top [Live]

3. Moonlight in Vermont [Live]

4. Music! Music! Music! (Put Another Nickel) [Live]

5. There Is No Greater Love [Live]

6. Poinciana [Live]

7. Woody 'N You [Live]

8. What's New? [Live]

9. Too Late Now [Live]

10. All the Things You Are [Live]

11. Cherokee [Live]

12. It Might as Well Be Spring [Live]

13. I'll Remember April [Live]

14. My Funny Valentine [Live]

15. Gone with the Wind [Live]

16. Billy Boy [Live]

17. It's You or No One [Live]

18. They Can't Take That Away from Me [Live]

19. Poor Butterfly [Live]

20. Poinciana [Single Version][*]

Editorial Reviews

Although They were Not Ahmad Jamal’s First Recordings, the 1958 Pershing and Spotlite Performances Marked the Beginning of his Success. The Original Album but Not for Me, Taped at the Pershing Lounge in Chicago on January 16 and 17, 1958, Included Eight of the 43 Tunes Played by the Trio, which were Carefully Selected by the Pianist Himself. For this Reason, They Are also the First Eight Tracks on Our Collection. Two Years Later, the Album’s Success Tempted the Original Producers to Release Eleven More Tunes (Tracks 9-19), which were Again Selected under the Supervision of Jamal’s Attentive Ears. It is Believed that the Unused Material was Put Aside and Subsequently Lost. This CD Brings Together all Known Material plus a Rare Bonus Track.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The ORIGINAL LP gets 5 stars, but this CD has hiss ..., February 8, 2009

By 

M. R. Traska "jazz fan, lounge lizard, and sw... (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958 (Audio CD)

... moreover, there's a better alternative on LP with cleaner sound (I'll get to that in a moment), and that's why I can't give this remastered CD five stars. The performances, on the other hand, are timeless, incomparable, and classic -- if you're ANY kind of jazz fan, this belongs in your permanent music library.

At The Pershing (recorded here in Chicago) has been so influential on so many jazz artists, but more than that, it is just SO easy to listen to, bright, inventive, engaging, hypnotic. It draws you in and holds you right on through the last cut. Long one of my most valued jazz recordings, it includes what is probably the definitive version of "Poinciana," which Jamal made forever his own with this performance.

But like I said, there's a better alternative on VINYL, if you can find it: Sun Set: Live At The Pershing Vol 1 & 2 / At The Blackhawk, a 2-LP set by Chess of the original Argo 1958 and 1961 recordings. Unlike the folks who put out this "Complete Live At The Pershing Lounge" CD, Chess got a good master somewhere -- and the sound quality of the LP set does justice to the performances, which are just completely enchanting. I used to own this LP set and played it to death for years, over and over until I lost it in a building fire (luckily, I'd made a cassette tape copy that survived, which I played until *that* wore out and self-destructed). I can still remember most of Poinciana bar by bar in my head and never tire of it.

[...]

I cannot imagine that anyone in his right mind who has a copy of the 2-LP Sun Set would ever part with it -- but if you DO see a copy on vinyl in reasonably good shape, snatch it up quickly!!! You'll be glad you did: this is the best that Ahmad Jamal has *ever* played, and I love it still. So will you.

Barring that, I guess you'll just have to settle for this second-best CD -- but it's still VERRRRRY much worth having. Even badly remastered Ahmad Jamal is still a joy!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard To Find, Easy To Love, March 6, 2008

By 

William Polhemus "Polhemus Engineering Company" (Katy, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958 (Audio CD)

I very much appreciate Amazon.com's "heroic efforts" at obtaining this recording. I had tried so many places subsequent to ordering this CD, attempting to find it for immediate purchase, and come away empty-handed, that I was convinced the thing actually didn't exist, and Amazon would eventually inform me that they just couldn't get it.

Then, lo and behold, I got an email right about the time of my despair, saying it had shipped.

I have to say that the version of "All The Things You Are" on this record is absolutely superb!

Regarding the sound quality, although it is billed as a "remaster," it is obvious that they had such poor mono masters to work with in the first place that there was only so much that could be done. A previous reviewer mentioned the presence of "high frequency hiss." He was NOT overstating things at all!

Of course, you can imagine what the situation must have been like, setting up to record at a Jazz club with relatively inferior (by today's standards) monaural equipment. It isn't surprising that it would turn out as it did. Nevertheless, it's good enough to see the brilliance of Ahmad Jamal even fifty years ago!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Imagine Miles Davis Hearing This Recording for the first time, November 2, 2007

By 

William E Donoghue "Fessor Mojo" (Healdsburg CA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complete Live at the Pershing Lounge 1958 (Audio CD)

But Not For Me/Ahmad Jamal at the Pershing [Lounge} changed Miles Davis' Life; the use of space (what he did not play), the songs chosen (Miles later recorded many of them with his quintet in which he hired Red Garland because he sounded like Ahmad Jamal. I can only close my eyes and see a scene where Miles Davis is listen to this for the first time. This is, in spite of the fact that Ahmad Jamal doesn't play much like this today, a desert island disc for me. The interplay between bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernell Fournier reminds one of the interplay Bill
Evans achieve with his trios at both tne beginning (Vanguard trio) and the end of his career.The trio is a living breathing thing. A Trio can be a beautiful thing and this is one of the trios to be remembered.