Ahmad Jamal - Cry Young

Cadet - LP
US, 1967
Jazz / Soul / Exotica 

Great "with voices" kind of album: Ahmad Jamal arranges some of his compositions and some jazz classics with elegance. Special mention to the great, upbeat interpretation of Eden Ahbez's Nature Boy.

Absolutely not surprisingly overlooked Ahmad Jamal's album (the "with voices" kind just like the "with strings" jazz albums have always been strongly rejected by jazz purists), Cry Young is nonetheless one of his most original LP from that era, and, without surprise just as good as most of his trio LP. Just as good but in a very different way that suits Ahmad Jamal well: contained chorus limited by the pop format, frequent chord changes and bridges.

 Ahmad Jamal is often considered a master of the sparse and the dilated, playing the piano with a strong sense of economy, playing the necessary notes as much as necessary silences, playing with a theme for 8, 10, 12 minutes. And, as a teenager, I was obsessed with one of his many versions of Poinciana. It was over 8 minutes long, but felt like he could go on playing with its chords for hours.

The songs on that Cry Young LP are remarkably short, but they do too feel like the musician could carry on playing for hours. It would probably be more harassing than the soft sounds of Jamal's trio, but still. As often with Ahmad Jamal, the tracklist is neat: Jamal's own Minor Moods, Cry Young, and a very good rendering of one of the most fascinating jazz themes: Eden Ahbez's esotherical Nature Boy. The arrangements are lush, the sound is warm: a great record for the non snob people who like exotica, cinematic jazz, Les Masques, Vladimir Cosma, etc.(VG+ / VG+)

Tracklist

1. A Beautiful Friendship
2. Where Is Love
3. Little Ditty
4. Who Needs Manhattan
5. Minor Moods
6. Cry Young
7. Nature Boy
8. There Are Such Things
9. Call Me Irresponsible
10. Tropical Breeze
11. C'est Si Bon