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Ahmad Jamal - Old Devil Moon

From the outset, the blues frequently deviated from its twelve bar form, and jazz musicians have similarly displayed a willingness to bend the blues to their own devices... Even more frequently, what is involved is the application of blue notes in a scale or blues phrasing to non blues material. Billie Holiday rarely sang traditional blues songs but performed every ballad with blues feeling. Charlie Parker, whose performance of Lady, Be Good with Jazz at the Philharmonic, is a textbook example of turning a pop song blue. These may be the ultimate examples of improvisers steeped in an aura of the blues.

The interaction between those considered blues and jazz musicians, respectively, has also been a constant... R&B then begat rock and roll, which ultimately fed the fusion movement in jazz, just as the soulful jazz of modernists such as Horace Silver and Bobby Timmons had its impact via funk on more contemporary blues.

With the passing of time, and as both the blues and jazz continue to evolve, the connection remains unbroken... The bond between the blues and jazz has only been strengthened by the many connotations beyond the musical definitions of these two art forms. When we view the blues as an attitude of facing the uncertainties of existence with a clear vision, a sense of humor and a spirit of resilience, and when we view jazz as a process for ensuring meaningful and spontaneous collective creation, it becomes even clearer that the blues and jazz only reinforce each other.
Source: The Influence of the Blues on Jazz by Carolyn and Bill Powers


Ahmad Jamal - Old Devil Moon
  • Recorded on: September 5 & 6 1958
  • Recorded at: The Spotlight Club, Washington, DC
  • Genre: Piano Jazz, Jazz

"Ahmad Jamal was a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master and won a Lifetime Achievement Grammy for his contributions to music history. He recorded as part of a trio or quintet."

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