Ahmad Jamal’s piano comes home

The 990-pound Steinway Model D that belonged to legendary jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal was taken off the truck on a dolly, rolled up a temporary ramp to the sidewalk and into the institute, passing the portrait of Ahmad Jamal painted by Kyle Holbrook on one of the institute’s front pillars. Photo by Ann Belser

By Ann Belser

It took four strong men from Maroadi Transfer and Storage to carry a piece of Ahmad Jamal’s legacy into the Afro American Music Institute in Homewood.

Mr. Jamal, a Pittsburgh-born jazz musician and composer, died April 6, 2023, at the age of 92. He left one of his Steinway grand pianos to the institute. The men who moved it had just delivered Mr. Jamal’s other piano to the University of Pittsburgh.

The piano, a Steinway Model D, which the company specifications say is nearly 9 feet long and weighs 990 pounds, arrived in an unheated truck when the temperature was just 24 degrees. The massive Model D was taken off the truck on a dolly, rolled up a temporary ramp to the sidewalk and into the institute, passing the portrait of Ahmad Jamal that was painted by Kyle Holbrook on one of the institute’s front pillars.

Once inside the building, the Steinway was rolled into the Johnson Jam Room, named for the institute’s founders Pamela Johnson and her husband, Dr. James Johnson Jr. They, along with their son, James III, a professional drummer who played with Ahmad Jamal, were on hand for the piano’s delivery.

Setting up the Steinway wasn’t as easy as an Ikea assembly project. The body of the piano had been rolled in while resting on a special moving board. It was separated from the legs and the pedals, which were attached to the piano by Tom Coyne, one of the piano movers, using a mallet to bang them into place. With the piano lying on its right side, the left leg and the leg at the far end were put into place, then three movers lifted the instrument onto its two legs and held it up above Coyne, who was under the instrument and attached the third leg. He then attached the pedals.

Once Mr. Jamal’s piano bench was put into place, Dr. James Johnson Jr. sat down at the keys.

“This is a special moment. I feel like I can feel the spirit of Ahmad,” he said.

“Play ‘Poinciana,’” Pamela Johnson said, referring to one of Mr. Jamal’s jazz compositions, “Poinciana (Song of the Trees).”

The Johnsons’ son, James III, kept time on a drum with one drumstick while holding his phone to film his father with the other hand.

As he played, the piano movers paused to take in the moment.

Dr. Johnson stopped playing after a few minutes because the keys on the piano were still so cold his fingers hurt.

The piano may have to move again. The Johnsons are raising money to build an addition on the side of the building, which was once the Homewood Post Office. That addition will be the Ahmad Jamal Music Hall. Ahmad Jamal’s piano will be its centerpiece.

The Steinway Model D is the model most sought after by professional pianists. Every year, Steinway and Sons issues its list of major concerts played across the country that featured a piano solo. This year, that list shows that of the 360 major concerts, most of them with symphony orchestras, 351 of them, featured a Steinway piano by the request of the pianist, said Joe Rivita, the company manager of Fort Pitt Piano Co. in the Strip District, an authorized retailer of Steinway Pianos. Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, which owns a Steinway Model D, had nine of those concerts.

A new model D, he said, currently costs $230,700. James Johnson noted that this piano is worth even more, because it once belonged to Ahmad Jamal.

Rivita said in addition to his own pianos, Mr. Jamal also gave a Steinway piano to the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild in the 1980s.

Ann Belser is the publisher of Print community newspaper, which serves the East End. This article is reprinted with permission through the Pittsburgh Community Newspaper Network.