Afro-American Music Institute preserves work and legacy of Ahmad Jamal

Ahad Jamal was a jazz legend who grew up and started playing right here in Pittsburgh in honor of Black History Month Christ Rose shows us how a school is keeping his memory alive at the afroamerican music institute in Pittsburgh the legacy of jazz pianist Amad Jamal can still be felt and seen you told me about my friend Amar Jal I do I do consider him a friend it will Dr James T Johnson Jr and his wife Pamela have been running this music school for over 40 years and they've seen some great musi

cians Ahmad Jamal ranks high on their list I remember the time we were at his brother's house we were sitting on the floor like two little kids just cracking I mean on the floor you know was sitting on on the Flor wow I said I have arrived I'm sitting on the floor like a little kid when Jal I'm Jamal was born in Pittsburgh in 1930 and joined a long list of Pittsburgh's Jazz Greats he learned from many of the best Mir carw Dawson one of his teachers he was also inspired by Earl Ghana by the mid 1

940s he was Blazing a trail in the jazz music world Johnson says Jamal had an inner music he developed his own signature style that Johnson says is hard to imitate moving in spiritual from Grand to soft flowing and breathing he became renowned and influential to manyal is is really known more outside of the United States and appreciated than he is in the United States as with most uh Jazz musicians I can start with right at the top and just say am Mar Jamal inspired Miles Davis uh that's a prett

y much known fact that he taught Miles Davis about uh facing one of the other musicians Jamal inspired was Dr Johnson's son James Johnson III James had been playing the drum since he was a kid and when he was old enough Jamal put him in his Trio and took him on tour around the world I'm smiling because just uh I believe it was yesterday um I told my son I said I don't think you realize who you were working with but I think he kind of admitted uh last night that he may not have known the magnitud

e um of of what he was doing by at such a young age playing with a majaal and two and across the world with this master for the Johnson's they're hoping to keep the life and the work of this great master of music and their friend Alive by putting his name on the afroamerican music institute's new performance space they're looking to build in the near future my dream is to see the amimal hall become a place where people will know that there are events that are about to happen and not know what th

e event is but know that it's good and they going to show up anyway reporting in Pittsburgh Christ Rose KDK TV news