A few of us remember listening to “Poinciana” and other tunes from Ahmad Jamal’s famous 1958 recording, “At the Pershing” as we attended college parties and other events of the day.

Now, 50 years later, here’s another opportunity to hear the music from one of the most underrated, yet influential, pianists on the jazz scene today — and to hear how Jamal’s style and concept has grown and remained contemporary.

Ahmad Jamal brings his trio, augmented with additional percussion to the Napa Valley Opera House Saturday.

He has been heralded by numerous contemporary artists as having an influence on their playing. In his autobiography, Miles Davis praised Jamal’s artistic qualities, and in the 1950s Davis’ Quintet recordings feature tunes that had been recorded by Jamal.

Jamal continues a busy performance schedule. Noted for his outstanding technical command and identifiable sound as a piano stylist, the 78-year-old Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, native began playing the piano at the age of three and was considered a prodigy. He began formal studies at seven. In 1951, he formed his first trio, The Three Strings. Performing at New York’s Embers, producer John Hammond “discovered” the group and signed them to a recording contract.

In 1956, bassist Israel Crosby joined Jamal. A year later, guitarist Ray Crawford was replaced with a drummer. Working as the house trio at Chicago’s Pershing Hotel in 1958, drummer Vernell Fournier joined this trio and Jamal made an on location recording for Argo (Chess) Records entitled “But Not For Me.”

The resulting hit single and album, that also included the haunting, Bolero-like “Poinciana” Jamal’s signature piece that remained on the charts for 108 weeks, unprecedented for a jazz album.

Despite his busy travel schedule, Jamal has maintained a “steady gig” in Washington, D.C. He has played every New Years Eve at the Georgetown jazz club Blues Alley since 1980.

In 1994, Mr. Jamal received the American Jazz Masters fellowship award from the National Endowment for the Arts. The same year he was named a Duke Ellington Fellow at Yale University, where he performed commissioned works with the Assai String Quartet. Last June he was inducted into the French Order of Arts and Letters by France’s minister of culture.

In 1970, Jamal performed the title composition by Johnny Mandel for the soundtrack of the film MASH! and in 1995, his music was featured in the Clint Eastwood film “The Bridges of Madison County.”

Writing in “The Village Voice” Stanley Crouch said, “No musician has had a more profound effect on the orchestral approach to small groups in the last 35 years than Ahmad Jamal ... He showed people how to italicize and magnify elements of music that were taken for granted ... He is a virtuoso, but his innovations are found in his arrangements.”

Jamal’s Napa Valley Opera House appearance will feature bassist James Cammack, James Johnson III on drums, and percussionist Manolo Badrena.

Ahmad Jamal in concert

Napa Valley Opera House

Saturday, Oct. 11, 8 p.m.

Tickets: $45.

Box office: 226-7372 or www.nvoh.org.