WHEREAS
, Ahmad Jamal was born on July 2, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS
, He was a child prodigy who began to play the piano at the age of three and began formal studies at age seven; and
WHEREAS
, While in high school, he studied under the tutelage of noted African-American concert singer and teacher Mary Cardwell Dawson and pianist James Miller; and
WHEREAS
, He joined the musicians’ union at the age of 14, and began touring after graduation from Westinghouse High School at the age of 17, drawing critical acclaim for his solos; and
WHEREAS
, In 1951 he formed his first trio, The Three Strings and was eventually discovered by record producer John Hammond who signed them to Okeh Records, a division of Columbia, now Sony Records; and
WHEREAS
, In 1955, under the Argo Records label he recorded his first album, which included jazz hits
New Rhumba, Excerpts
From The Blues, Medley (actually I Don't Want To Be Kissed), and It Ain't Necessarily So, --
all later utilized by Miles Davis and Gil Evans on the albums
Miles Ahead
and
Porgy and Bess
; and
WHEREAS
, Working with the house trio at Chicago’s Pershing Hotel in 1958, Mr. Jamal made an on-location recording for Argo Records entitled
But Not For Me
. The resulting hit single and album remained on the Ten-Best Selling charts for an amazing 108 weeks- unprecedented for a jazz album; and
WHEREAS
, In 1970, Mr. Jamal performed the title composition for the soundtrack of the film
MASH!
and in 1995, two tracks,
Music, Music,
Music, and Poinciana
from his smash album
But Not For Me
,
were featured in the Clint Eastwood film,
The Bridges of Madison County
; and
WHEREAS
, In 1994, Mr. Jamal received the American Jazz Masters Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and in that same year he was named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University, where he performed commissioned works with the Assai String Quartet; and
WHEREAS
, In June 2007, the French Government inducted him into the prestigious Order of the Arts and Letters; former recipients include Ella Fitzgerald, William Faulkner, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jackson Pollack, Alan Ginsberg and Tony Morrison; and
WHEREAS
, His latest recording,
It’s Magic
, hit the Billboard Chart at #13 immediately after its release in the U.S. and in France he received the equivalent of a Grammy Award; approaching 80, his music remains youthful, fresh, imaginative and always influential; and
WHEREAS
, Mr. Jamal’s connections to Philadelphia include performing on the Dick Clarke Show, broadcast from Philadelphia’s famous Showboat; and
WHEREAS
, He was quoted as saying:
Philadelphia certainly was one of my favorite cities and Broad Street and I were no strangers! You might know I worked with a song and dance team that was based at 52nd and Haverford, The Caldwells , and that is when I wrote one of my biggest copyrights, “Ahmad's Blues”
; and
WHEREAS
, Ahmad Jamal continues an impressive performance schedule around the world after more than four decades, continuing his outstanding technical command and identifiable sound as a piano stylist incorporating a unique sense of space in his music— he is truly one of kind; now therefore, be it
RESOLVED,
That the Philadelphia City Council Hereby Recognizes and Honors the Life and Music of Renowned Jazz Recording Artist Ahmad Jamal; and
FURTHER RESOLVED,
That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented as a Profound Expression of this Council’s Recognition and Appreciation.
End