Keith Jarrett: Standards I/II: Tokyo 1985 and 1986

John Kelman

Senior Editor since 2004

With the realization that there will always be more music coming at him than he can keep up with, John wonders why anyone would think that jazz is dead or dying.

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Published: September 5, 2008

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Whether it's delicate brushwork, swinging mightily or responding to Jarrett's gospel disposition with a loose backbeat, DeJohnette demonstrates that, despite the more mainstream veneer of this undeniably experimental music, there's nothing orthodox about how he or the rest of the trio approach the music. Hearing his locked-in groove with Peacock on "Rider" is not just one of the highlights of the set; it's demonstrative of the trio's ability to stretch out at length without ever overstaying its welcome. DeJohnette's brief solo is a perfect confluence of effortless mastery and reverence for the essence of the song.

That original, preconceived songs like "Rider" and the Americana-tinged "Prism"—a clear influence on pianist Bruce Hornsby—are no longer part of what the trio does is a shame. There's no denying the trio's approach to standards—where new structure is created each and every night—while completely free improv records like Always Let Me Go (ECM, 2002) pull plenty of form out of the ether. But the fact remains: Jarrett's writing for his 1970s European and American quartets has created some indisputable classics including "The Windup," "Belonging" and "My Song." The fiery "So Tender," which opened Standards, Vol. 2 and is heard in the 1985 performance in extended form with far greater energy, also makes clear that Jarrett has the ability to write compellingly for the mainstream, a strength he may be overly reluctant to exploit. It's less a criticism, since the trio performs at such a high level that it can make something out of virtually anything, than simply a pining for a time when Jarrett also believed in the concept of formal writing as an equal partner, or musical dovetail, to unfettered improvisation.

Keith Jarrett / Standards Trio / Gary Peacock

The DVDs have not been remastered, but the sound is in clear, clean and crisp PCM Stereo, while the multi- camera approach allows director Kaname Kawachi to provide views of the group both intimate and expansive. With each successive release Jarrett's Standards Trio assures that there's plenty of life left in a group a quarter of a century old. Standards I/II: Tokyo 1985 and 1986 is a revealing window into a group just beginning its journey, but this double-DVD set, with over three hours of footage, also proves, along with the reissue of Setting Standards, that the trio's chemistry was near- instantaneous, and that the ensuing years have only cemented an already firm foundation.

Personnel: Keith Jarrett: piano; Gary Peacock: double-bass; Jack DeJohnette: drums.

Tracks: DVD1 (Standards I: Tokyo 1985): I Wish I Knew; If I Should Lose You; Late Lament; Rider; It's Easy To Remember; So Tender; Prism; Stella By Starlight; God Bless The Child; Delauney's Dilemma. DVD2 (Standards II: Tokyo 1986): You Don't Know What Love Is; With A Song In My Heart; When You Wish Upon A Star; All of You; Blame It On My Youth; Love Letters; Georgia On My Mind; You And The Night And The Music; When I Fall In Love; On Green Dolphin Street; Woody 'n' You; Young And Foolish.

Production Notes: NTSC Region 0; Color 4:3; PCM Stereo; Photo: Roberto Masotti; Design: Sascha Kleis. DVD1: Recorded live in Tokyo, February 15, 1985 at Koseinenkin Hall; Director: Kaname Kawachi; Recorded and mixed by Toshio Yamanaka; Production coordinator: Toshinari Koinuma; Produced by Masafumi Yamamoto; Executive Producer: Hisao Ebine; Concert produced by Koinuma Music; Running time: 105 minutes. DVD2: Recorded live in Tokyo, October 26, 1986 at Hitomi Memorial Hall; Director: Kaname Kawachi; Recorded and mixed by Seigen Ono; Production coordinator: Toshinari Koinuma; Produced by Masafumi Yamamoto; Executive Producer: Hisao Ebine; Concert produced by Koinuma Music.

Photo Credit
Captured from Standards I/II: Tokyo 1985 and 1986, courtesy of ECM Records and VideoArts Music

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