A Tribute To Ahmad Jamal Performed By Spencer Zweifel at Classic Pianos

Miles Davis once said, “All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal.”

Spencer Zweifel expresses that Ahmad Jamal's pristine sound and radical ingenuity transformed the piano trio forever. His groundbreaking work with his classic trio in the late 50's and early 60's proved extremely influential with his contemporaries and successors alike. Jamal's distinct arrangements combined the sound of his predecessors with modular forms, unexpected key changes, daring silence, and a deep harmonic knowledge. Pianists such as myself [Zweifel] have taken inspiration from Jamal on every level: repertoire choice, orchestration of melody, sound on the instrument, and of course his expert arranging skill. Jamal's music is important to me [Zweifel] because its influence has transcended its time, and it once again becomes fresh and relevant to musicians who discover it in every generation....

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Miles Davis once said, “All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal.”

Spencer Zweifel expresses that Ahmad Jamal's pristine sound and radical ingenuity transformed the piano trio forever. His groundbreaking work with his classic trio in the late 50's and early 60's proved extremely influential with his contemporaries and successors alike. Jamal's distinct arrangements combined the sound of his predecessors with modular forms, unexpected key changes, daring silence, and a deep harmonic knowledge. Pianists such as myself [Zweifel] have taken inspiration from Jamal on every level: repertoire choice, orchestration of melody, sound on the instrument, and of course his expert arranging skill. Jamal's music is important to me [Zweifel] because its influence has transcended its time, and it once again becomes fresh and relevant to musicians who discover it in every generation.

Ahmad Jamal lived til 92 years of age, passing away just in April of this year. Jamal started playing piano at age 3 in Pittsburg, where Earl Hines, Erroll Garner and Mary Lou Williams were neighbors. From a young age Jamal listened not just to jazz, which he preferred to call “American classical music,” but also to classical music from Europe. Jamal stated to the New York Times: “We studied Bach and Ellington, Mozart and Art Tatum. When you start at 3, what you hear you play. I heard all these things.” (Grode 2023)

Ahmad Jamal is widely-recorded, with more than 60 albums to his name. He was most drawn to ballads, mesmerized with the lyricism, which he took literally. He found his expression in ballads by actually knowing the lyrics, something saxophonist Ben Webster abided by. Jamal’s music is an inspiration all across music, from contemporary groups like The Bad Plus to Hip-Hop artists like De La Soul, Anderson .Paak, Nas, Jay-Z, Common, and many more.

Since forming his first jazz group at age 16, Spencer Zweifel has become a regular member of the Colorado music scene. You may have even been lucky enough to see him perform with the Domi Edson Trio this past spring for Gift of Jazz’s Ray Brown tribute. An accomplished jazz pianist, Zweifel has performed professionally across Colorado as well as in tours around the US. In 2021, Zweifel was selected as a national finalist for the Jacksonville Jazz Festival jazz piano competition, where he placed third. Spencer graduated in 2019 with a degree in jazz studies from the University of Northern Colorado and won ‘Best pop/rock soloist’ in the 2018 Downbeat Magazine student awards. In 2021, Spencer completed a Master’s in jazz studies at William Paterson University, where he studied with Bill Charlap, Aaron Diehl, and Geoffrey Keezer. In 2020 Zweifel formed the Spencer Zweifel Quintet which has since released 2 records, including 2022's 'Before It's Too Late.'

Spencer will be joined by Bobby Wiens on drums and Braun Khan on bass.

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