But the recent passing of Ahmad Jamal doesn't leave me in the same position. I've been playing his music since sometime in the '60s, with his Argo record label LP of 'Naked City Theme'' having been played enough times to wear it out.
The Village Gate was a great venue for jazz performances. There were two levels, the Top and the main level. The Top was a bit cheaper. The price isn't what drove me to the Top. I was already a fan of Ahmad, by then owning several LPs.
Nancy and Tim married in 2004 and labeled one of their wedding table Ahmad Jamal. An older friend of mine who didn't listen to jazz (he was steeped in classical music) was seated at the table and asked me, perplexed, "Who is Ahmad Jamal?" I had to explain.
I remember reading a review of that movie and the writer commented on how unlikely it is that jazz music was coming into an Iowa kitchen. It seemed okay to me. Don't radio waves travel great distances, and maybe she was tuned into a Chicago station? Critics.
It was interesting to read in the obituary how Miles Davis thought so highly of Ahmad Jamal's music. I think the night I saw Jamal at Top of the Gate Miles was playing downstairs. I know the upstairs musicians would go downstairs on their break and listen in, and probably vice versa.
For years and years my favorite album of Jamal's, the Naked City Theme was not available on CD. There must have been some contract dispute over label ownership. It is available now on CD.
It was probably sometime in the late '90s when I was on a LIRR train going home when this very large guy sat next to me in a two-seater. He seated himself cautiously since he knew he was large. Despite that you do get squeezed in a bit. I inwardly groaned. Of all the seats this guy could have picked, he sat next to me. Oh well.
I didn't complain, and somehow we started talking. He was the owner of Subway Records, a record store I think on 6th Avenue near Penn Station, on the second floor of an old building.
His knowledge of recording was of course great. He spoke of having the Beatles White album and how much it was worth. I was never a Beatles fan so this meant nothing to me. But it turns out this LP is worth a good deal of money, then, and of course now.
We got to talking and I mentioned that I wanted a CD of Jamal's Naked City Theme. At the time there wasn't much downloading. I don't even think iTunes was around then. Streaming was nascent. He told me to drop by the store and they'd make a copy. I did, and they did.
My co-worker Isabel told me it was a "practical miracle" that he sat next to me. She was a fan of John Gray's Men Are from Mars, Women are from Venus. Okay, maybe she was right.
The only other time I ever saw the guy was when I went to the store to pick up the CD. I never saw him again on the train. I remember him telling me he was likely going to pack it in soon; it was too hard to make any money selling old LPs. He even branched out to being a ticket broker for concerts. Eventually the shop was gone, and he was selling out his home and on the web I guess.
The NYT did a story on Jamal in the Arts section on September 11, 2022 by Giovanni Russonello. There was going to be some new releases of two two-disc live recordings he made at the jazz club the Penthouse, 'Emerald City Nights: Live at the Penthouse 1963-1964 and 1965-1966.' A third set is scheduled soon.
I bought one of the sets, and will soon add the other. The NYT mentions that Ahmad had a hand in all the selections for the CDs. Naked City Theme did not make his cut, but it will always make mine. I never heard him perform it. At the Iridium they announced that if we stayed for the second set he would take requests. We didn't stay, and I missed my chance.
Passing away is permanent at any age. Passing away at 92 means there will be no 93. But I've got the LPs and the CDs. The music lives on.
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