Keith Jarrett: Bordeaux Concert

Like so much of his renowned canon—including Köln Concert, Bremen-Lausanne, La Scala, A Multitude of Angels (ECM, 1975, 1973, 1997, 2016)— Bordeaux Concert feels like it has always been there. In the air, in the heart, in the quiet turnings of a world at large. Just waiting for one to encounter it and come to the greater understanding of just how beautiful, how peaceful, this life can be.

Communicative on every level, Bordeaux Concert places the listener front row center, concerned only on Jarrett and his muse at the moment he took to the L'Auditorium in Bordeaux stage on July 6, 2016. The lights go down and Jarrett, especially possessed this night by the silent imaginings with which he has transfixed and transported audiences since day one, creates an all encompassing, stunningly fluent, hauntingly lyrical thirteen-part suite.

Coming as it does between the assured exhilaration of Munich 2016 (ECM, 2019) and the textural heartiness of Budapest Concert (ECM, 2020) this night holds its own as Jarrett delves deeper into his own curious spirit without exploring the two or three standards that had become part of his repertoire since the late 1990s. But he does wax nostalgic on the insightful rumination "Part III," examining the total breadth and scope of his seemingly endless creativity. Emerging gently, it serves both as a summation and a beginning, evolving into its own abiding standard. The rolling arpeggios of "Part IV," the bluesy connotations of "Part VIII," the expansive wit and restraint of "Part VII," and the majestic classicism of "Part XIII," just make Bordeaux Concert a remarkable listen.