photo by Sven Thielmann
By Leonardo Barroso
By Leonardo Barroso
Era uma vez, há 27 anos....
Em 1983 Manfred Eicher, presidente da ECM, propos a criação de um Trio de jazz para gravar um disco com standards americanos. Keith Jarrett chamou Gary Peacock e Jack DeJohnette para realizar o projeto. Desde o lançamento de "Standards, Vol. 1" em 1983 são 27 anos e 19 cd's lançados desde então por este maravilhoso Trio.
All by ECM Records :Changes - 1983
By Scott Yanow
Unlike the other two Keith Jarrett trio recordings from January 1983, this collaboration with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette does not feature standards. The trio performs the 30-minute "Flying" and a 6-minute "Prism," both of them Jarrett originals. "Flying," which has several sections, keeps one's interest througout while the more concise "Prism" has a beautiful melody. It is a nice change to hear Jarrett (who normally plays unaccompanied) interacting with a trio of superb players.
Standards, Vol. 1 -1983
By Scott Yanow
In January of 1983, Keith Jarrett returned to the trio format and his collaboration with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette resulted in three albums. The first release finds the trio digging into five standards with "God Bless the Child" being dragged out (although not unmercifully) for 15 minutes. The performances, which usually do not swing in a conventional sense, do have a momentum of their own. Jarrett is generous in allocating solo space to Peacock and it is obvious that the three musicians were listening very closely to each other.
Standards, Vol. 2 -1983
By Scott Yanow
One of three trio albums that pianist Keith Jarrett recorded with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette during the same month, this second volume of Standards gets the edge over the first due to its slightly more challenging material. Jarrett, who has often taken himself a bit too seriously, is surprisingly playful at times in this format. In addition to Jarrett's "So Tender," there are such superior songs explored on this date as Alec Wilder's "Moon and Sand," "If I Should Lose You" and "I Fall in Love Too Easily." Bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette listen closely to Jarrett and no matter what direction the pianist turns, they are already there waiting for him.
Standards Live -1985
By Michael G. Nastos
Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio spread their wings during live performance in as astute and dignified a manner as any group since the similarly sized Bill Evans ensembles of three decades prior. Bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette easily match the Evans bandmates Scott LaFaro and Paul Motian in terms of their telepathy, rhythmic savvy, harmonic ideas and supportive idealism. They propel Jarrett's advanced viewpoint in making well-known American popular songs all his own. While the incessant vocal whining of the leader in accord with his playing is an issue, the way he sensitively interprets a familiar song is not. The trio warms slowly as Jarrett's introduces "Stella by Starlight" with delicate precision, also keeping a cool head on Alec Wilder's "The Wrong Blues" with tempo in check. "Falling in Love with Love" hits third gear running, as Jarrett's fleet, lithe and flowing lines dismiss reckless abandon, and settles into a groove. A slight Latin hue on "Too Young to Go Steady" from the adept DeJohnette turns this composition to pure gold, while Jarrett does not hesitate getting right to the melody of "The Way You Look Tonight" because he knows and loves it all too well. DeJohnette is not only completely supportive, but undeniably is reinventing the jazz swing rhythm through this whole concert. A nice choice for a closer, Nat Adderley's soulful and spiritual "The Old Country" is tactfully portrayed, and because it is included on a record of standards, can be happily declared as official jazz orthodoxy. The trio is fairly concise, even for concert guidelines (nothing over 11 minutes), so the indulgence factor is virtually non-existent, and listenability is very high even for those who are challenged. Such stellar collective musicianship and their teamwork deems this recording worthy of any most recommended list.
Still Live - 1986
By Richard S. Ginell
Once Keith Jarrett gets into a concept, he likes to keep those tapes rolling. This two-disc live outpouring from a Standards Trio gig at Munich's Philharmonic Hall was the biggest offering from this group up to that time (it wouldn't hold that distinction for long) — and once again, Jarrett treats his brace of pop and jazz standards with unpredictable, often eloquently melodic and structural originality. To cite a pair of highlights: "Autumn Leaves" always seems to bring out an endless flow of invention from Jarrett, and "The Song Is You" gets off to a rollicking start and maintains a nearly relentless energy level for 17 minutes, closing with a Spanish vamp. Again, the rapport with his onetime jazz-rock associate, drummer Jack DeJohnette, and bassist Gary Peacock is total; DeJohnette's mastery of shifting cymbal patterns while maintaining the pulse acts on the trio like a loose tether made of carbon steel. There is a considerable amount of Jarrett vocalizing, though; sometimes he sounds like a tortured animal.
Standards in Norway - 1989
By Scott Yanow
Keith Jarrett has recorded quite a few albums with his "Standards Trio," which also features bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, and virtually all of their releases are enjoyable. The music that they create is in some ways an update of the type of interplay that took place between Bill Evans and his sidemen, where all three musicians often act as equals (although Jarrett, like Evans, has most of the solo space). An uptempo "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" is a surprising highpoint of this disc but also quite memorable are "All of You," "Old Folks" and "How About You?"; none of the eight performances from the concert appearance are throwaways. Jarrett's vocal sounds are more restrained than usual while his piano playing is in peak form.
The Cure - 1990
By Richard S. Ginell
Sure, the Keith Jarrett Trio of the '80s and '90s recorded way too much music for the casual fan to absorb. But one's reservations fade when confronted with the sheer creativity and empathy that the trio displayed in this gorgeously recorded live date at New York's Town Hall. As in several albums before, the emphasis for Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette is on standards, save for a sole ostinato-based Jarrett original (the title track). "Bemsha Swing" finds Jarrett at very nearly his best, transforming standard material completely in his own funky manner. In addition, there is a really beautiful rendition of Oscar Levant's "Blame It on My Youth," and an eloquently harmonized "Body and Soul" with generous solo space for Peacock. There is some squeaky vocalizing by Jarrett over some of his solos, but not enough to deter anyone from enjoying this 77-minute outpouring of first-class improvisational jazz.
Bye Bye Blackbird - 1991
By Richard S. Ginell
This is the Keith Jarrett Trio's — featuring bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette — elegy for their former employer Miles Davis, recorded only 13 days after the maestro's death. The lonely figure in shadow with a horn on the cover contrasts with the joyous spirit of many of the tracks on this CD, yet there is still a ghostly presence to deal with — and in keeping with Miles' credo, Jarrett's choice of notes is often more purposefully spare than usual. There is symmetry in the organization of the album, with "Bye Bye Blackbird" opening and the trio's equally jaunty "Blackbird, Bye Bye" closing the album, and the interior tracks immediately following the former and preceding the latter are "You Won't Forget Me" and "I Thought About You." The centerpiece of the CD is an 18-and-a-half-minute group improvisation, "For Miles," which after some DeJohnette tumbling around becomes a dirge sometimes reminiscent of Miles' own elegy for Duke Ellington, "He Loved Him Madly." As an immediate response to a traumatic event, Jarrett and his colleagues strike the right emotional balance to create one of their more meaningful albums.
Tribute - 1991
By Richard S. Ginell
The Keith Jarrett Standards Trio gets back down to business with two CDs' worth of familiar and perhaps not-so-familiar tunes, recorded in one evening in Cologne, Germany. There is a concept this time, for all the standards carry a dedication to some jazz man or woman who performed them — and they are not predictable choices; Lee Konitz for "Lover Man," "It's Easy to Remember" for John Coltrane, "All of You" for Miles Davis, etc. Almost every number has a reflective solo piano introduction, with one of the notable exceptions being Jarrett's rolling, convoluted opening variations on "All the Things You Are" (Sonny Rollins). "Solar" (the Bill Evans tribute) has challenging, fractured interplay between Jarrett, Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock, and it directly segues into Jarrett's own obsessive "Sun Prayer," which seems to lose its way after a fine start. The other Jarrett composition, "U Dance," a carefree folk-like tune with a rhumba rhythm, closes the concert with a tribute to no one in particular. While the Standards Trio rarely takes anything for granted, transforming everything in its path, the results are not quite as inventive here as on other releases, though Disc Two is clearly more interesting overall than Disc One. Warning to the wary: Keith Jarrett, singer, is in rare groaning form on "I Hear a Rhapsody" and "Solar."
Changeless - 1992
By Richard S. Ginell
One of only a handful of Keith Jarrett "Standards" Trio records without a standard within earshot, this is a triumph, for Jarrett has successfully brought the organically evolving patterns of his solo concerts into the group format. Each of the first three selections is built upon a constant revolving ostinato, and each evolves from one stage to the next like a Jarrett solo piano improvisation. "Dancing" has a swaying Latin beat in the percussion and bass; "Endless" is full of lyrical invention at a slower tempo; "Lifeline" is catchy and hypnotic; and the fourth number, "Ecstasy," grows out of "Lifeline," closing the album perhaps inevitably with a drawn-out, peaceful piano tremolo. Bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette are clearly listening hard, going with the flow. The recordings were taken from four separate concerts in Denver, Dallas, Lexington, KY., and Houston. Jarrett may spout off about society's self-centered soullessness in his querulous liner notes, but he and his trio have clearly backed his words by example, pulling off a genuine collective musical experience.
At the Deer Head Inn -1992 with Paul Motian on drums
By Scott Yanow
Keith Jarrett returns to his roots, both musically and physically, on this CD. His first significant jazz gig was at the Deer Head Inn in Allentown, PA (his hometown) and 30 years later Jarrett agreed to perform at the venue again. With the assistance of bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian, Jarrett plays six jazz standards (several of which were associated with Miles Davis) plus Jaki Byard's medium-tempo blues, "Chandra." The inventive interpretations give listeners plenty of surprises and variety, making this a very enjoyable outing.
Keith Jarrett Trio At the Blue Note - 1995 - 06 cd's
By Scott Yanow
The six-CD box set Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note fully documents three nights (six complete sets from June 3-5, 1994) by his trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Never mind that this same group has already had ten separate releases since 1983; this box is still well worth getting. The repertoire emphasizes (but is not exclusively) standards, with such songs as "In Your Own Sweet Way," "Now's the Time," "Oleo," "Days of Wine and Roses," and "My Romance" given colorful and at times surprising explorations. Some of the selections are quite lengthy (including a 26-and-a-half-minute version of "Autumn Leaves") and Jarrett's occasional originals are quite welcome; his 28-and-a-half-minute "Desert Sun" reminds one of the pianist's fully improvised Solo Concerts of the 1970s. Throughout the three nights at the Blue Note, the interplay among the musicians is consistently outstanding. Those listeners concerned about Jarrett's tendency to "sing along" with his piano have little to fear for, other than occasional shouts and sighs, he wisely lets his piano do the talking.
Changeless - 1992
By Richard S. Ginell
One of only a handful of Keith Jarrett "Standards" Trio records without a standard within earshot, this is a triumph, for Jarrett has successfully brought the organically evolving patterns of his solo concerts into the group format. Each of the first three selections is built upon a constant revolving ostinato, and each evolves from one stage to the next like a Jarrett solo piano improvisation. "Dancing" has a swaying Latin beat in the percussion and bass; "Endless" is full of lyrical invention at a slower tempo; "Lifeline" is catchy and hypnotic; and the fourth number, "Ecstasy," grows out of "Lifeline," closing the album perhaps inevitably with a drawn-out, peaceful piano tremolo. Bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette are clearly listening hard, going with the flow. The recordings were taken from four separate concerts in Denver, Dallas, Lexington, KY., and Houston. Jarrett may spout off about society's self-centered soullessness in his querulous liner notes, but he and his trio have clearly backed his words by example, pulling off a genuine collective musical experience.
At the Deer Head Inn -1992 with Paul Motian on drums
By Scott Yanow
Keith Jarrett returns to his roots, both musically and physically, on this CD. His first significant jazz gig was at the Deer Head Inn in Allentown, PA (his hometown) and 30 years later Jarrett agreed to perform at the venue again. With the assistance of bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian, Jarrett plays six jazz standards (several of which were associated with Miles Davis) plus Jaki Byard's medium-tempo blues, "Chandra." The inventive interpretations give listeners plenty of surprises and variety, making this a very enjoyable outing.
Keith Jarrett Trio At the Blue Note - 1995 - 06 cd's
By Scott Yanow
The six-CD box set Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note fully documents three nights (six complete sets from June 3-5, 1994) by his trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Never mind that this same group has already had ten separate releases since 1983; this box is still well worth getting. The repertoire emphasizes (but is not exclusively) standards, with such songs as "In Your Own Sweet Way," "Now's the Time," "Oleo," "Days of Wine and Roses," and "My Romance" given colorful and at times surprising explorations. Some of the selections are quite lengthy (including a 26-and-a-half-minute version of "Autumn Leaves") and Jarrett's occasional originals are quite welcome; his 28-and-a-half-minute "Desert Sun" reminds one of the pianist's fully improvised Solo Concerts of the 1970s. Throughout the three nights at the Blue Note, the interplay among the musicians is consistently outstanding. Those listeners concerned about Jarrett's tendency to "sing along" with his piano have little to fear for, other than occasional shouts and sighs, he wisely lets his piano do the talking.
Tokyo '96 -1998
By Richard S. Ginell
Recorded in Tokyo's Orchard Hall before Japanese royalty and a packed house — and released two years later while Keith Jarrett was out of action suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome — the standards trio lives up to its formidable track record of consistency and then some. Jarrett and perennial cohorts Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette are, if anything, even sharper, swinging harder and more attuned to each other than ever. There was a stronger Latin subtext in Tokyo that night than usual; "I'll Remember April" opens with a long, spare drum solo and becomes a high-spirited calypso-flavored workout, and "Last Night When We Were Young" segues into a Jarrett boogaloo improv called "Caribbean Sky." Two bop standards touch off further electric sparks; there is a joyously funky "Billie's Bounce," and Jarrett really puts all of Bud Powell's imitators in the shade with his right-handed prowess on "John's Abbey." Even those who have assiduously collected all of the standards trio's voluminous output will find Jarrett, Peacock and DeJohnette speaking to them in fresh ways here.
Whisper Not - 2000
By Richard S. Ginell
For Keith Jarrett, this extremely satisfying concert with the Standards Trio on two CDs is a personal landmark, the first for-the-record sign that he had recovered from the chronic fatigue syndrome that laid him low for three years in the late 1990s. Indeed, by the time this Paris gig took place, he had come all the way back — his technical facilities intact (a handful of smeared notes aside), his inventiveness bubbling over. Old cohorts Gary Peacock (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums) are back, too, regenerating their propulsive, swinging, collective E.S.P. at will. Not too much has changed from the pre-illness days, though the focus is very much on classic bebop now — with Bud Powell getting a good deal of attention with an outstanding "Bouncing With Bud" and a terrific "Hallucinations" that has an atypically funny false ending. Jarrett's bebop runs on "Groovin' High" are astonishing, "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" is appealingly jaunty and carefree, and ballads like "'Round Midnight" and "Prelude to a Kiss" revert to the melodic simplicity that was cultivated during Jarrett's down time. Even though the Standards Trio has been one of the most prolifically recorded groups of its era, only the final encore, "When I Fall in Love," had been recorded before by this group. So even those who think they have enough material by this group will be rightly tempted to invest in this document of Jarrett's resurrection.
Inside Out - 2001
By Thom Jurek
For many years, the trio of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette has been taking jazz standards and expanding them via improvisation into an entire language that reflects not only the history but also the eternal present of jazz. Many have wondered if Jarrett would ever return to the "free" style of playing he did in the 1960s on releases for Columbia, Atlantic, and Impulse! It would be both impossible and unreasonable to expect a musician like Jarrett — and his sidemen for that matter — to return to the fold of an innocence they lost long ago, when they were lesser musicians than they are now. Inside Out, recorded over two nights in July 2000 in London, bridges that gap: It is completely improvised save for one tune — an almost unbearably beautiful reading of "When I Fall in Love" — done as an encore. Here are Jarrett, Peacock, and DeJohnette as they haven't been heard from in years, starting from silence, digging deep into the history of jazz, blues and even R&B to invent spontaneously a musical language that is trio-specific, communicative on the deepest levels of nuance, sonances, and spirit. The opening track, "From the Body," begins as a careening trip through the blues, from Memphis to St. Louis back through Mississippi to New Orleans and coming to rest in Chicago. Given how close the dialogue is here, and the expansive harmonic invention at work in the middle registers of the piano and the bass, it becomes a blur — it's impossible to really know who is leading or following or if such a hierarchy even exists anymore. When the blues disintegrate gradually — and momentarily — and are replaced by what is defined in the vernacular as "free" playing, the dissonance is traipsed upon only slightly. It's not as if it doesn't belong or isn't welcome, it's just that it's a minor concern because these guys know where they are going or at least want to go. It's familiar but not well-tread or predictable; it's invigorating, knife-edge improvisation. By the time the title track fades in, listeners know that the entire fake book has been thrown out the window and the standards have been erased (or at least left in the hallmarks of collective jazz memory), in favor of this language that calls upon their dignity and verve while establishing its own propriety and basis of utterance. Does it swing? Hell yes it does, if your definition of that word is something other than cut, 4/4, or waltz time — though some of the music played here engages those very signatures exquisitely. Most importantly, the trio of Jarrett, Peacock, and DeJohnette offers a new kind of free jazz — one that is lyrical, tonally accessible, and musically elegant, tailored by the ears and executed with the grace of the heart. Many younger players who believe that the only way to improvise freely is to tear their chosen instrument to shreds and bleat every ounce of pain and suffering that can be extracted from it need to hear this record, badly. In it they may find the true secrets of the masters, and the sheer poetics of the improvisational artistry that is jazz.
Always Let Me Go: Live in Tokyo - 2002
By Glenn Swan
Recorded live in Tokyo in April 2001, Always Let Me Go is Keith Jarrett's 149th concert in Japan. Joined by his long-standing partners Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, these performances are playful, explosive, somber, and completely improvised. After 20 years of working together, they trust each other (and the audience) enough to deliver over two hours of unscripted music. DeJohnette prowls through his drums like a restless cougar: he chatters, scuffles, and pounces on the skins with agility. Likewise, Peacock spoons out a concrete foundation of bass; one that bubbles as it spreads through the cracks in Jarrett's 88 keys (which serve the pianist so very well). For listeners familiar with the trio's Inside Out CD, here is the same idea further elaborated on. "Hearts in Space" spirals out of the starting gate with geometrical tremors, as three virtuosos all start their respective engines and read each other's pulses over the course of 32 minutes. The trio effortlessly glide from mood to mood in synchronization to deliver a ballad in the eye of a hurricane, then dismount into straight-ahead swing. "The River" is a stoic hymn, a richness of melancholy in deep scarlet blue. It is Jarrett's only solo here, as brief as it is rewarding. "Paradox" rides the crest of bebop in a simmering stew to close out the first disc with a punch that stops on a dime. There are enough recurring themes here to call it a standard of sorts, and the musicians quickly assume the proper formation as they've done thousands of times before. Disc two opens with "Waves," another half-hour marathon of moods that evolves seamlessly between chromatic stillness, manic fluttering, and gunpowder bop. DeJohnette clearly sets the tone for "Facing East" — a syncopated clockwork of beat, as Jarrett pinwheels in like-minded percussives with Peacock flipping through volumes of frets. Next comes the aptly titled "Tsunami," which swells and bursts with power before finally subsiding to fractured stillness. It is the fire in the musicians' bellies — perhaps the darkest and most ferocious passage of the album. As is often the case, Jarrett's distant vocals pinch the air from time to time. Although purists may wince at this additional layer of seasoning, there's no denying his expression comes out of the deepest level of commitment. It is this same commitment that fuels so much of the album.With the knowledge that Always Let Me Go is live and improvised, it adds a rewarding layer of understanding and appreciation, as few musicians can deliver such diamonds with so little structure in place. Song for song, the symbiosis is a marvel to behold — and the audience knows it. These are gods at play, and the lightning bolts they toss around are awe-inspiring.
Up for It: Live in Juan-Les-Pins - 2003
By Thom Jurek
For a trio that has been together this long (over 20 years), Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette still play with the enthusiasm of a group of people discovering each other for the first time. That's no cliché. One listen to "If I Were a Bell," the opening track on this live set, reveals how footloose, free, and excited these three can be when they encounter one another on the stand. Certainly, the near symbiotic relationship they have built over time makes the freewheeling feeling come easy. But that's a bit misleading in a sense, because if the listener pays the slightest bit of attention to how the rhythm section works with Jarrett, it becomes obvious just how much listening is going on in this conversation. Jarrett's timbral and dynamic palettes can change on a dime, and Peacock and DeJohnette never miss. The other wonderfully breezy thing about this set is that all of the tunes are from the jazz canon except for the title track, which closes the album and is a Jarrett original. From Frank Loesser's "If I Were a Bell," the band literally charges into Oliver Nelson's "Butch & Butch" at a furious tempo. DeJohnette pushes Jarrett on the tempo, and Peacock walks through the middle, balancing out not only time but harmonic equations in Jarrett's extrapolations on the melody. Nonetheless, despite the sprints — "Scrapple From the Apple" by Charlie Parker is another down the line — they never cease to literally amaze on the ballads. Here, "My Funny Valentine," "Autumn Leaves," and the just under mid-tempo "Someday My Prince Will Come" are given such impeccable lyrical treatment it's almost breathless. One of the most exciting tracks here, especially since it begins the last third of the program, is the inclusion of John Lewis' "Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West." The gorgeous stride Jarrett plays, which is all his, stands in amazing contrast to the original light-fingered version played by the composer. Jarrett invokes Fats Waller and early Ramsey Lewis in the blues feel while keeping his own sense of tempered attack through the shimmering shades of blue and green in the minor keys. This is one tough track in feel and emotion. The rhythm section doesn't just walk it either; they slip under and around Jarrett to fill out the edges, making this a beautiful dialogue piece. Up for It is a dynamite set, as refreshing, spirited, and innovative as any Jarrett has ever released, but full of good vibes too.
Up for It: Live in Juan-Les-Pins - 2003
By Thom Jurek
For a trio that has been together this long (over 20 years), Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette still play with the enthusiasm of a group of people discovering each other for the first time. That's no cliché. One listen to "If I Were a Bell," the opening track on this live set, reveals how footloose, free, and excited these three can be when they encounter one another on the stand. Certainly, the near symbiotic relationship they have built over time makes the freewheeling feeling come easy. But that's a bit misleading in a sense, because if the listener pays the slightest bit of attention to how the rhythm section works with Jarrett, it becomes obvious just how much listening is going on in this conversation. Jarrett's timbral and dynamic palettes can change on a dime, and Peacock and DeJohnette never miss. The other wonderfully breezy thing about this set is that all of the tunes are from the jazz canon except for the title track, which closes the album and is a Jarrett original. From Frank Loesser's "If I Were a Bell," the band literally charges into Oliver Nelson's "Butch & Butch" at a furious tempo. DeJohnette pushes Jarrett on the tempo, and Peacock walks through the middle, balancing out not only time but harmonic equations in Jarrett's extrapolations on the melody. Nonetheless, despite the sprints — "Scrapple From the Apple" by Charlie Parker is another down the line — they never cease to literally amaze on the ballads. Here, "My Funny Valentine," "Autumn Leaves," and the just under mid-tempo "Someday My Prince Will Come" are given such impeccable lyrical treatment it's almost breathless. One of the most exciting tracks here, especially since it begins the last third of the program, is the inclusion of John Lewis' "Two Degrees East, Three Degrees West." The gorgeous stride Jarrett plays, which is all his, stands in amazing contrast to the original light-fingered version played by the composer. Jarrett invokes Fats Waller and early Ramsey Lewis in the blues feel while keeping his own sense of tempered attack through the shimmering shades of blue and green in the minor keys. This is one tough track in feel and emotion. The rhythm section doesn't just walk it either; they slip under and around Jarrett to fill out the edges, making this a beautiful dialogue piece. Up for It is a dynamite set, as refreshing, spirited, and innovative as any Jarrett has ever released, but full of good vibes too.
The Out-of-Towners - 2004
By Thom Jurek
Recorded in 2001 live at the State Opera House in Munich, Out of Towners features the Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette trio in the kind of performance we've come to expect from them these last 21 years: Stellar. Being one of contemporary jazz's longest-running bands has its advantages; one of them is having nothing to prove. First and foremost, this band plays standards like no one else. Given their individual careers, the members playing in a trio that performs classics carries a kind of freedom, as well as weight. This material is treated not as museum-piece jazz, but as the essence of song. Check the whispered elegance of "I Can't Believe You're in Love With Me." This Jimmy McHugh-Clarence Gaskill number has plenty of history being recorded definitively by singers, chronologically by Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. The trio lean into the lyric phrasing in the body of the tune and turn it gently inside out without ever losing its melodic essence. They follow it with "You've Changed," a fine exercise in rhythmic invention with a popping, sure-footed swing throughout. The complete re-vamp of Cole Porter's "I Love You" that unfolds over ten minutes digs into the lyric underbelly of the song and brings out so many subtle and shaded nuances it's like hearing the composition for the first time. The lone original on the set is the title track, written by Jarrett. A sprightly swing is stretched and molded over nearly 20 minutes, and one can hear everyone from Horace Silver to Thelonious Monk to Hampton Hawes in Jarrett's approach, underscored by Peacock's strident basslines that walk the edge of DeJohnette's cymbal-caressed beat. The big surprise is the elegant, finger-popping read of Gerry Mulligan's "Five Brothers." Its skipping melody is folded inside waves of harmonic interweaving by Jarrett through the body taken in a knotty swing that is given wings by the rhythm section. Besides the wondrous performance, the sound of this recording should be noted. Its warmth is immediate, its very close and intimate sound makes the listener feel as if she were in the middle of the stage taking this all in, not in the audience. This is an accomplishment on all fronts.
My Foolish Heart: Live at Montreux - 2007
By Thom Jurek
My Foolish Heart is an anniversary release celebrating 25 years of the Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette trio's traveling and performing together despite the rich and varied individual careers of its members. Recorded in 2001 at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Jarrett held the tape close to the vest until what he felt was the right time for release — whatever that means. The bottom line is, listeners are very fortunate to have it. The official live offerings by this group have always been crystalline affairs of deep swinging communication, no matter the material. Not only is My Foolish Heart no exception, it is perhaps the standard by which the others should be judged. Almost two hours in length, the program is comprised entirely of jazz and pop standards — beginning with a tough, limber, punchy version of Miles Davis' "Four" lasting over nine minutes. That the music begins like this, so utterly strident and swaggering, full of lyric invention and energy, is almost reason enough for purchase. The inherent commitment to the music is not measured: it's total. There are few — if any — groups in jazz that have been together for such a long time. And there are few groups new or old that are even capable enough to manage such a wide-ranging selection of the repertoire: from the title track and "Four" to "Oleo," "Straight, No Chaser," and even "Five Brothers"! But the selection of material is only the wrapper. What's inside it is not just the history of jazz but history in the making, because these three prove beyond all measure not only the vitality of the material but also the necessity of the trio interpretation of it, and indeed what is possible: bop, hard bop, post-bop, swing, and here even ragtime, played with all the seriousness and joy it demands. The readings of Fats Waller's "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Honeysuckle Rose" and Rodgers & Hart's "You Took Advantage of Me" are wild affairs, beautifully executed, sure, but played with the requisite emotion that new interpretations require. On this set, these tunes have been brought out of history, out of the canon of milquetoast sweetness as diversions for the purpose of entertainment, and out into the present as revelatory statements in harmony and rhythmic and lyric invention. The interplay between Peacock and DeJohnette is utterly dynamic. The way these two not only complement but also challenge one another creates a sense of balance that allows Jarrett room for flight — not into his own quirks as a musician, but into the entire universe of jazz. Peacock and DeJohnette solo a lot here, with in-the-pocket contributions to the melodic panorama of the music. The ballads, too, such as the delicate reading of Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne's "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" and the curious but spot-on choice for a set closer, Cahn and James Van Heusen's "Only the Lonely," are read with such sensitivity and confidence that overly reverent interpretation (a trap for any player who risks bloodlessness) is impossible; the nature of "song" is kept as the trio offers these renditions with deep emotion and a singer's sense of space and elegance. Over 13 tunes, this band offers more surprises, delights, and jaw-dropping musical acumen than even fans believed possible. As Jarrett writes in his liner notes, "There was no other night when we felt that we had to (almost literally) grab the audience by the throat and shake them into hearing what we were doing." Perhaps they were distracted by heat, bad sound, and lighting problems — Jarrett speaks to these twice in his notes — but perhaps, until they reached the ragtime segment of the set that demanded a waking response, they were just floored by the swinging intensity with which the set began. Whatever the reason, this document is a mindblower from start to finish, and there are moments when all you can do in response is look at the box slack-jawed and wonder if what you just heard really happened. It did and it does, over and over again. This set is a magical, wondrous moment in the life of a trio when it all comes pouring out as inspiration and mastery.
Yesterdays - 2009
By Thom Jurek
Yesterdays is the third title ECM has released by Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette (dubbed "the standards trio"). The first two — The Out-of-Towners released in 2004 and My Foolish Heart issued in 2007 — were actually recorded later than this live date recorded in Tokyo in April of 2001. This also marks a first in the pianist's career: the George Gershwin tune "You Took Advantage of Me" appeared on My Foolish Heart in a very different arrangement, making this the first time Jarrett has ever employed a single track on two consecutive albums. On My Foolish Heart Jarrett used a full-on ragtime intro to the tune. Here, he employs a denser harmonic construction based on its changes and melodic frame. When the band enters, the pop and swing in the tune become pronounced, standing in the same universe as ragtime (which is more than likely the reason Jarrett employed it before) but also much more sophisticated and harmonically complex. Other standouts on this fine set include the bop burners "Scrapple from the Apple" and "Shaw'nuff," the glorious ballads "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "You've Changed," and a deeply moving rendition of "Stella by Starlight." What is most remarkable about this band is its sense of balance between eloquence, interplay, improvisational communication, and swing. This group is not only a solid link to the tradition Jarrett, Peacock, and DeJohnette all came up with, but it is a solid teaching pointer as to how to employ standards for the music in the future.
Yesterdays - 2009
By Thom Jurek
Yesterdays is the third title ECM has released by Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette (dubbed "the standards trio"). The first two — The Out-of-Towners released in 2004 and My Foolish Heart issued in 2007 — were actually recorded later than this live date recorded in Tokyo in April of 2001. This also marks a first in the pianist's career: the George Gershwin tune "You Took Advantage of Me" appeared on My Foolish Heart in a very different arrangement, making this the first time Jarrett has ever employed a single track on two consecutive albums. On My Foolish Heart Jarrett used a full-on ragtime intro to the tune. Here, he employs a denser harmonic construction based on its changes and melodic frame. When the band enters, the pop and swing in the tune become pronounced, standing in the same universe as ragtime (which is more than likely the reason Jarrett employed it before) but also much more sophisticated and harmonically complex. Other standouts on this fine set include the bop burners "Scrapple from the Apple" and "Shaw'nuff," the glorious ballads "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" and "You've Changed," and a deeply moving rendition of "Stella by Starlight." What is most remarkable about this band is its sense of balance between eloquence, interplay, improvisational communication, and swing. This group is not only a solid link to the tradition Jarrett, Peacock, and DeJohnette all came up with, but it is a solid teaching pointer as to how to employ standards for the music in the future.
