poinciana is a song written in the late 1930s, becoming popular in the early 1940s. this version that i painted to here was recorded by ahmad jamal and his trio, live at the pershing lounge in chicago in 1958.

the drummer, vernell fournier, was from new orleans and he sort of mixed a new orleans second line beat with a rhumba to come up with what you are listening to now. he used a hard felt mallet in the right hand to get that distinctive sound and a stick with the left playing the offbeat hihat and cymbal part...truly genius.