The concert was billed as "Ahmad Jamal -- Jazz Pianist'' but this was no one-man-show.

Last night's Bermuda Festival jazz night at City Hall featured a combo who sounded just perfect together.

The legendary jazz pianist has a history which richly deserves top billing, but he is first to admit that his audiences benefit from the double bass of John Heard and the drumming of Yoron Israel.

Ahmad Jamal, at 62, has a stage presence that keeps all eyes on him throughout the 12 song set.

He strolls on an off the stage at will, steps back to let his colleagues share the limelight and conducts them with wafts of his left hand while his right is still in control of the keyboard of his grand piano.

And he can still find time to amuse the audience with his body language while proving that he is thoroughly enjoying himself.

Jamal mentions his Pittsburgh roots because of the city's excellent connections with music.

He started performing at the age of three and composing by the age of 10.

Turning professional the following year he was an expert on the works of both Lizst and Ellington.

Not surprisingly those classical and big band influences show through in his jazz work today.

Last night's show was one of immense variety moving from the almost tranquil classical style to the rowdy and rumbustious side of jazz musicianship.

The appreciative audience were always impressed by the musicianship but were thrown into a constantly changing stream of emotions from the melancholy to the uplifting.

The Bill Evans song, My Story, was one of the quieter moments and a high spot in the evening. It highlighted the lighter touches of Jamal's abilities on the keyboard, but he continued to slip out of the shackles every so often.

It was followed by his own composition, the thunderous Acorn, in which he almost pummeled his piano into submission.

These early songs set the tone for the whole set. The band start together and then in traditional jazz style they veer away from the storyline before finding their way back.

Bassist Heard tended to keep those strands together until he was allowed to exhibit his skills during his solos.

Drummer Israel had a much freer role switching from tickling the drums, to military drums rolls and mighty thumps of the skins.

The Maestro was enjoying little strolls off stage during the second set, particularly during the latter numbers like Randy Weston's Highfly, yet he continued to conduct matters with his hand or his towel.

At one stage he tried to fool the audience by leaping back into his seat almost in a panic but this was just a little joke as he easily launched back into the song.

The second half of the set did include a lot of solo work from all three men, with Jamal exhibiting that he really is an incredible pianist on Chelsea Bridge.

But all three came together for an encore which showed just how tight this band can get when necessary.

Jamal remains a force in the international music scene and his work has been seen and heard by sell-out audiences in many countries over the last 30 odd years.

ALAN WRIGHT AHMAD JAMAL -- Entertaining jazz fans at the Festival.