Hearing Coltrane, Dizzy and Miles blow a solo in 1954 probably felt – at least to a layman – much like venturing out into metropolis currently feels to me. A brute force; all of it demanding my full attention and respect.
Which explains why music lovers so hungrily consumed the relaxed, unhurried piano playing of Ahmad Jamal in 1958; and why this TV spot so easily helps you catch your breath:
Every shot was created on the new iPhone 7.
Jamal’s 1958 release At the Pershing coined the term “cool jazz” because it exploited an element of jazz that the prior legends wouldn’t……space. Jamal let the upright bass and ride cymbals go for measures at a time. He didn’t fill every chorus with exhausting virtuosity. He let the sustain of his piano and the structure of the song do the work. Audiences finally had jazz they could make love to; jazz they could have conversations over (I have mixed feelings about that one) and jazz that more easily fit into their lives.
Jamal earned enough income with At the Pershing to take a three year hiatus and buy a restaurant. It was at this restaurant the Alhambra in downtown Chicago, that he recorded “Snowfall”, used in the Apple spot. Apple is projected to earn enough income with the iPhone 7 to purchase the most expense entree on Alhambra Palace’s menu (filet mignon) one-and-a-half billion times*.
Here are fantastically chill jazz piano ballads available for licensing on MusicRevolution.com
*Jamal’s restaurant actually closed in 1961, but the Alhambra Palace in downtown Chicago looks great and I needed a fun punchline.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Jamal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_Jamal’s_Alhambra
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-earnings-iphone-7-could-break-streak-of-shrinking-sales-2017-01-27
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Mike Bielenberg is a professional musician and co-founder of http://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 48,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music from an online community of musicians. mbielenberg@musicrevolution.com. 
