George Joyner, Jamil Sulieman, and Jamil Nasser are three names that appear on the records of Phineas Newborn, Lou Donaldson, Red Garland, and Ahmad Jamal. These names identify one jazz bassist, composer, and jazz advocate, who made an indelible mark upon in the the jazz world for over fifty years, Jamil Nasser.
Upright Bass chronicles his evolution from a young bassist on Beale Street, the musical epicenter of Memphis, to a top-flight bassist on the New York jazz scene. Miles Davis harbored curiosity about the environment that produced Jamil and three Memphis musicians he hired in 1963. I wondered what they were doing down there when all the guys came through that same school.
Nasser’s narrative captures the untold stories of two piano giants, Phineas Newborn and Oscar Dennard. He also shares anecdotes about his mentors: Papa Jo Jones, Lester Young, Charles Mingus, Oscar Pettiford, and Ray Brown. Moreover, Jamil describes his decade long tenure with Ahmad Jamal, which included a life threatening imprisonment in South America. Finally, we learn about the perils of heroin addiction, his plight as an outspoken, Muslim jazz artist fighting for greater union representation, media access, healthcare, and self-ownership.