Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden/Paul Motian: Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden/Paul Motian: Hamburg '72

Early on in Keith Jarrett's relationship with ECM (the label had released the solo Facing You in 1971), the pianist was recording for three different labels and dabbling in multiple group formations including this trio. In retrospect it's almost unimaginable that a better triad could have existed in comparison to that of Hamburg '72. Jarrett—adding flute, soprano sax and a bit of percussion to his piano performance—bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian were the quintessential combo, pulling on their collective experiences together and with saxophonists Charles Lloyd, Ornette Coleman and pianist Bill Evans respectively.

Leading up to the Hamburg recording, Life Between the Exit Signs (Vortex, 1968), Somewhere Before (Vortex, 1969) and The Mourning of a Star (Atlantic, 1971) had all garnered critical acclaim for the trio, while coinciding with work where saxophonist Dewey Redman expanded the trio to Jarrett's so-called American quartet. By comparison, the overall content of the earlier trio releases was less engrossing, not quite as consistent as Hamburg '72, an album that raised the post-Evans bar. Powerful improvisations, expressive solos and flawless group dynamics persist throughout the compositions that Jarrett tailored to the strengths of the trio.

Remixed from a live NDR Jazz radio performance, Hamburg '72 manifests a combination of flawless synergy and matchlessly original playing. The opening solo notes of "Rainbow" are reminiscent of Jarrett's later European solo performances. About two minutes in, Haden and Motian audaciously kick in with a counter-strategy; Haden's later solo, plays to the heart of the music, improvising without embellishments. More than any other modern drummer, Motian displays a penchant for deftly constructing pieces of unrelated rhythms, appending them to Haden and Jarrett solos. His presence is at times elusive, always articulate and indispensable to the group dynamic.

Jarrett takes up the flute adding a taste of Eastern mysticism to "Everything That Lives Laments" before returning the piano. Here—as on "Rainbow—high-spirited gospel inflections breathe an irresistible energy into the music. Jarrett's consummate piano aptitude has understandably overshadowed his early work on soprano sax but "Piece For Ornette" is a reminder that he played with some authority. "Take Me Back" and "Life, Dance" share a bristling liveliness often driven by Haden and bridged by Jarrett. Haden's deep, intimate treatment of the fifteen-plus minute "Song For Che," is more lean and feeling than his original Liberation Music Orchestra version (Impulse!, 1969).

In 1972, Haden and Motian were already riding a long plateau of accomplishments. Jarrett was three years away from his benchmark achievement The Köln Concert. In an era when the music scene was very much in flux, Jarrett was stretching his own aesthetic boundaries from the blues-rock-jazz of Lloyd's Forest Flower (Atlantic, 1966) to the fusion of Miles Davis in his Fillmore days. The young Jarrett added the same sense of lyrical improvisation to those early endeavors as that which he perfected in his later career. Hamburg '72 is an impeccable accomplishment, fresh and innovative and filled with elation.