At 78, pianist Ahmad Jamal is a rarity among jazz giants, a musician whose sound changed radically after he was well into his middle years. When he first gained a following leading a trio in Chicago in the mid 1950s, his style was marked by a light, dancing touch and his supremely calibrated sense of dynamics. Named an American Jazz master by the NEA, Jamal employs trademark percussive block chords as well as fleet, single-note runs. His vast influence runs through contemporary piano stars Benny Green, Eric Reed, Jacky Terrasson and many others. Jamal will perform material from his 2008 Dreyfus release, It’s Magic.

“He knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, his understatement.” —Miles Davis