ASHLEY FALLS, MA (CelebrityAccess) – Legendary jazz pianist and composer Ahmad Jamal passed away today (April 16) at home in Ashley Falls, MA. His death was confirmed by his daughter Sumayah Jamal and his wife, Laura Hess-Hay, to The Washington Post. He passed away after a battle with prostate cancer. He was 92.
Jamal, born Frederick Russell Jones (known as Fritz) in Pittsburgh, PA, on July 2, 1930, began playing piano at the age of 7. However, The Washington Post states he began tickling the ivories at 3 when an uncle challenged him to imitate him on the family piano.
After formal lessons, Jamal was drawn to the music of Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy, who were known to put spaces of silence between notes. He immersed himself in music at Westinghouse High School, and as a freshman, he played the musicians’ union hall and worked in nightclubs around Pittsburgh.
He left Pittsburgh in 1950 and newly married, moved to Chicago and converted to Islam from the Baptist faith, changing his name from Fritz Jones to Ahmad Jamal. He credited the change in faith with giving him the confidence to pursue music further.
He led a bass-guitar-piano trio called the Three Strings and recorded for the Okeh label of Columbia Records in the early 50s. After making upwards of $4,000 a week, he bought a mansion and engaged in other business ventures – unfortunately, leaving him in a lot of debt.
His marriage to Virginia Wilkins (Muslim name: Maryam Mezzan) ended in divorce in 1962, and he had a daughter named Mumeenah.
He moved to New York City for a Village Gate nightclub residency and began known for an electrically amplified keyboard version of Mandel’s theme from the TV show M.A.S.H. He also released The Awakening album with bassist Jamil Nasser and drummer Frank Gant. Hip-hop artists Nas, Common, and Jay-Z later sampled his recordings.
Within his nearly seven-decade career, he was declared a Jazz Master in 1994 by the National Endowment for the Arts and won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Grammys in 2017.
He is preceded in death by his daughter Mumeenah and is survived by his wife, Laura Hess-Hay and daughter Sumayah.
RIP.
