WORTHY CONTENDER
AHMAD JAMAL
Ahmad’s Blues (1958)
One remarkable fact about Israel Crosby is that for a player of a notoriously huge instrument, he was on the diminutive side himself—the end pin of the bass would only extend enough to keep the body of his three-quarter-size Kay off the stage floor. But what a sound he could get from his instrument, dancing across the fingerboard with complete control from bottom to top, and a punchiness that was testament to his energetic technique.