"POINCIANA" (1936)

January 16, 2009 was the 51st anniversary of pianist Ahmad Jamal’s historic recording of "Poinciana" performed live at the Pershing Lounge in Chicago with his piano trio. The Pershing Lounge, now long defunct, was a legendary jazz club located on Chicago’s South Side. That night recording equipment was set up at the club, and the record that resulted from the live performance captivated the jazz world. It was a surprise hit that stayed on the Billboard charts for over two years, an amazing achievement for any recording, but unheard of for a piano trio. The album was Jamal’s commercial breakthrough and "Poinciana" became his signature tune.
"Poinciana" was written and copyrighted in 1936 by Nat Simon and Buddy Bernier. They based it on a traditional Cuban folk song, "Cancion Del Arbol" (Song of the Tree), with Spanish lyrics by Manuel Lliso. The poinciana of the title is a tree originally native to Madagascar but now grown throughout tropical and subtropical climates. For several weeks in spring and summer it is covered with flamboyant red flowers and consistently is voted among the top 5 most beautiful flowering trees in the world. Jazz musicians have been familiar with the song, if not the tree that inspired it, since the 1930s, and Jamal was not the first to perform or record it. But, there is confusion regarding who first recorded "Poinciana". Benny Carter, Bing Crosby, and Glenn Miller all have been credited with recording it first and Benny Carter’s 1943 recording was a minor hit. During the 1940s and 1950s it entered the repertoire of musicians like Duke Ellington, Errol Garner, Harry James, Charlie Parker and George Shearing.
So, why does Jamal’s 1958 recording continue to be the benchmark? Ted Gioia at www.jazz.com provides the answer, "...So this song was no undiscovered gem, just waiting to be plucked by Ahmad Jamal – it was out there and frequently covered by the greater and lesser talents of the jazz world. But Jamal made all these versions into mere footnotes to his classic performance. He employs a syncopated vamp to set up the melody, and this may have been the hook that turned the song into a hit. Not many jazz songs have become charted singles, but most of the ones earning this distinction have employed vamps – for example "Take Five," "The Sidewinder," "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and "Watermelon Man." But vamps also can bore you to tears. To Jamal's credit, he puts a jolt of electricity into every phrase, into his every move at the keyboard." Gioia also gave credit to Jamal’s sidemen, "Of course, Jamal was not the only party responsible for the hypnotic and breathing rhythms on "Poinciana." Drummer Vernel Fournier and bassist Israel Crosby perfectly matched and supported every move the pianist made. To this day, I have never heard a rhythm section who surpassed this team for playing with quiet intensity, for bringing down the volume and playing fewer notes, but without sacrificing the energy level of the song."
A child prodigy who began playing the piano at the age of 3, Ahmad Jamal is now in his eighth decade of performing music, and at live concerts fans still cry out for him to perform "Poinciana". At an interview in 2003 he was asked if the recording at the Pershing lounge was still his favorite album. He responded, "It's hard for it not to be my favorite. My favorite record is always the next one (laughter). That is certainly one of my monumental achievements. If you can do that once in a lifetime you are fortunate. Some of us don't have that happen even once - but it happened and it is still carrying me through. In fact it is still being emulated and plagiarized (laughter), which is a tribute to an artist when people try to duplicate - that says that perhaps you have made a mark."