Ahmad Jamal is to appear at the first Jazz FM awards to be held at the end of January.

While no official announcement has been made so far, sources at the station have confirmed that the great Pittsburgh-born pianist, who turned 82 in the summer, and who along with Frank Sinatra counts as a seminal influence on Miles Davis, has accepted an invitation to attend. 

Jamal through his Pershing recordings staked his place immediately as a giant of jazz leaving an indelible mark on the music. These recordings created at the Pershing Lounge in Chicago beginning in 1958, were where the pianist laid down his best known sides along with bassist Israel Crosby and drummer Vernel Fournier. They not only sold in very large numbers, but also provided a snapshot of a music that would be changed irrevocably in the years to come by such innovators as Cecil Taylor, the free jazz movement and its socio-political and cultural consequences, and later by the demands and challenges of jazz-rock.

Ahmad Jamal’s appearance at the awards underline the event’s credibility and mark the beginning of a big year for the DAB broadcaster, as the station is also to mount the Love Supreme outdoor festival in July.

Stephen Graham