AHMAD JAMAL
• July 2, 1930 Ahmad Jamal, jazz pianist and composer, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jamal began playing the piano at the age of three and began formal training at seven. He moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1950 and recorded his debut album, “Ahmad’s Blues” in 1951. In 1958, Jamal recorded the album “But Not for Me” which included “Poinciana.” That album stayed on the Ten Best Selling charts for 108 weeks. Other recordings by Jamal include “Crystal” (1987) and “A Quiet Time” (2009). In 1994, Jamal was designated a NEA Jazz Master, the highest honor in jazz, by the National Endowment for the Arts. That same year, he was named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University. In 2007, he was inducted into the Order of the Arts and Letters by the French government and received the Living Legends Award from the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
via thewright.org