Ahmad Jamal - MacAnudo

Limited 180gm vinyl LP repressing including digital download. The 1959 LP JAMAL AT THE PENTHOUSE marked Ahmad Jamal's first recording with a large orchestra including strings. It was actually a studio date made by the trio at the Nola Penthouse Studios in New York (hence the title) with a tightly arranged string orchestra conducted by Joe Kennedy. In December of 1962 Jamal would return to that format, backed this time by an orchestra conducted by Richard Evans (aka Richard Lee Cowan Evans). The results would be released on the album presented here, MACANUDO. Nearly all of the band members are unknown. The original liner notes spoke of 'jazz greats and conservatory-trained musicians from the New York Philharmonic and other symphony orchestras', but the only confirmed player apart from Jamal and conductor Richard Evans is bassist Art Davis, listed by the Tom Lord discography but not mentioned on the original LP's back cover.