OBITUARY: Ahmad Jamal: 1930-2023

Ahmad Jamal, whose spare but highly melodic piano style on trio recordings beginning in 1951 transformed the sound of the jazz piano and deeply influenced Miles Davis and Red Garland, died on April 16. He was 92. At the dawn of the 1950s, Jamal’s gleeful and relaxed style was a radical departure from other piano approaches at the time, when thick chords and a strong left hand held sway on the jazz piano…