Letter to Paul

This is an email I wrote to one of my friends, who just moved to Pittsburgh. Andy Warhol was born there and Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater is also nearby, near Mill Run.

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P-Man,

I was just reading about Common's 2nd album, "Resurrection", which I have enjoyed for years. I read the list of songs which were sampled in "Resurrection", the first song on the album. The main piano loop sampled on "Resurrection" is "Dolphin Dance", by Ahmad Jamal, from 1970. I downloaded it tonight.

Ahmad Jamal is my favorite jazz pianist. Miles Davis cites him as an influence. In 1994, I watched WTTW's "Image Union" which featured a song by him, "Poinciana". The video was so good that I taped it on my vcr and watched it over and over. The video was not actually for the song, but was an art video which used the song as a background for various night scenes shot around Chicago.

It took me about a year to find out what the song was. Either WBEZ 91.5 or WNUA 95.5 FM played it by coincidence and the announcer said the name and title of the song. I found out "Poinciana" was one of Jamad's best known works, and that there were two different versions of the song. The live version was the one I was looking for.

Years later, in 2002 or 2003, I went looking for the Pershing Ballroom, where the song was recorded live in the winter of 1957-'58. The Pershing was located somewhere on 64th and Cottage Grove, but had since been either demolished or transformed. I managed to see him play a beautiful set at Grant Park one summer night in 2003. He even played "Poinciana". I think he wore a white suit. His music reminds me of the good things in Chicago.

On Ahmad's website, he mentions that he was born in a wonderful place for artists and creative people...Pittsburgh, PA.


Best,
Henry
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note: "Dolphin Dance" is originally by Herbie Hancock, who is a Chicago native, as Paul and I both are.