(Ahmad) Jamal plays Jamal, from 1974

 

Again a fusionary LP full of progressive ideas in the middle of a huge discography replete with pretty ordinary average jazz, bebop, standards, and tediously long improvisations.  None of which applies to this though.

Information on pianist Ahmad Jamal:

American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader, and educator, born, July 2, 1930 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - died April 16, 2023 in Ashley Falls, Massachusetts. Born Frederick Russell Jones, he converted to Islam and changed his name to Ahmad Jamal in the early 1950s.

So when this LP came out he was already 44 years old.  Unlike the preceding examples though, there are other albums by him which are worth hearing, the previous one for ex., and perhaps the next, although he quickly got into the soul / funk / disco and easy listening, that swept everything else away in the later part of this decade.  

Looking up the credits you can see he both wrote and arranged everything on here.  Also and equally shockingly every single track is amazing and progressively composed and arranged.  In other words, there are no 'circle of fifths' chord progressions, there are no standards, there is no wailing sax playing the usual improvs.  Instead there are some really dramatic and inventive moments in every piece, and sometimes the whole thing is put together like a symphony, consider for ex. Pastures:

Or Death and Resurrection: