Khan Jamal facts for kids

Khan Jamal (born Warren Robert Cheeseboro) was an American musician. He played the vibraphone and marimba. These are instruments similar to a xylophone. He was born on July 23, 1946, and passed away on January 10, 2022.

Khan Jamal was known for playing many styles of Jazz. These included free jazz, jazz-rock, and hard bop. He was a very skilled player. He started a band called Sounds of Liberation in 1970.

Early Life and Music Beginnings

Warren Robert Cheeseboro was born in Jacksonville, Florida. This was on July 23, 1946. He grew up in Philadelphia. His mother, Willa Mae Cheeseboro, was a talented stride pianist.

Khan Jamal started playing the vibraphone when he was a teenager. This was in the mid-1960s. He studied music at the Granoff School of Music. He also attended the Combs College of Music.

Khan Jamal's Music Career

In the late 1960s, Khan Jamal played with a group called Cosmic Forces. He also performed with The Sun Ra Arkestra. After leaving that group, he joined Sunny Murray's band, Untouchable Factor.

In 1970, Jamal helped start the band Sounds of Liberation. He formed it with Byard Lancaster. Other members included Monnette Sudler on guitar and Billy Mills on bass. They also had Dwight James on drums, and Omar Hill and Rashid Salim on percussion.

The band released their first album, New Horizons, in 1972. They put it out on their own record label, Dogtown. At first, not many people outside Philadelphia knew about it. However, the album was re-released in 2010. This helped the band become known again. Later, a recording from 1973 was released in 2019. It was called Unreleased.

Besides leading his own groups, Jamal played with other famous musicians. In the 1980s, he performed with Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society. He also played with Joe Bonner and Billy Bang.

His first solo album was Drum Dance to the Motherland. This was a live recording from a small café. It was first released in 1973. In 2020, it was re-released. People called it a very important underground jazz album. Another solo album, Infinity (1984), was also re-released in 2021.

Khan Jamal was known for his unique music style. He could combine different types of jazz, like free jazz and jazz fusion. He was also great at changing the mood and style of his music. He often performed at the Vision Festival.

Life and Legacy

Khan Jamal had two sons, Khan II and Tahir. He passed away on January 10, 2022. He was 75 years old. He died in Philadelphia due to kidney failure.

Discography