Miles Ahead: Last News

A.D. Amorosi Ahmad Jamal, one of the most elegant, eloquent and influential pianists and composers in modern jazz, died on Sunday, his wife, Laura Hess-Hey, and his daughter, Sumayah Jamal, told the Washington Pst. The pianist was 92 and died in Ashley Falls, MA, after a battle with prostate cancer. Renowned for his economical and deliberate style, Jamal – born Frederick Russell Jones in Pittsburgh on July 2, 1930 – was an inspiration to jazz giants such as McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, Bill Charlap and Miles Davis. The latter famously recorded Jamal’s composition “New Rhumba” for his 1957 album “Miles Ahead.” In his 1989 autobiography, “Miles,” Davis stated that the pianist “knocked me out with his concept of space, his lightness of touch, his understatement, and the way he phrases notes and chords and passages.” Davis is also renowned for saying, “All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal.”

Miles Ahead. He was also a part of the production for the accompanying soundtrack which featured music from Davis, Robert Glasper, and other jazz and funk instrumentalists.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Yen Tan, whose feature 1985 debuted at SXSW in 2018, has signed on to helm Beauty, the story of Julia Pastrana, a woman who suffered from the rare genetic condition hypertrichosis. In the 1800s, showman Theodore Lent made her a worldwide attraction.The pic will be produced by Mark Amin for Sobini Films and David Permut for Permut Presentations.