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Keith Jarrett's European Quartet: Innocence
by Scott Lichtman
It just so happens that two of the most poignant jazz ballads--in my opinion--were released in the same year. I'm not talking about throw-back masterpieces, such as Thelonious Monk's Round Midnight" or Horace Silver's Lonely Woman." Rather, they are Keith Jarrett's Innocence" and Egberto Gismonti's Palhaço," both originally issued in 1980. What makes these pieces stand out are their simple melodies; harmonic progressions with pop, not bebop, sensibilities; unexpected key modulations; and the nuanced musicianship of the supporting bands. Norwegian ...
read moreThe Keith Jarrett Trio: Ten Essential Recordings
by Karl Ackermann
The Keith Jarrett Trio, or The Standards Trio, as it later became known, with Gary Peacock on double bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums, is one of the most celebrated and influential jazz trios of all time. The group was formed in 1983 but Jarrett and DeJohnette had been collaborating since the late 1960s when they performed together in Miles Davis' band. The early version of the Jarrett trio featured Charlie Haden on bass, with Peacock coming in at the ...
read moreKeith Jarrett: Solo-Concerts Bremen Lausanne
by Chris May
Here, in all its 2023 audiophile detail, and cut from the original analogue masters, is the 3xLP set which launched the extraordinary tale of Keith Jarrett's in-the-moment- improvised, in-concert solo albums. Arguably the most momentous of all the reissues in ECM's estimable Luminessence series, the Bremen and Lausanne concerts were recorded in March and July 1973 and released as a set in November that year, a synchronous fifty years precisely before this edition. The 2xLP The Köln ...
read moreKeith Jarrett: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
by Karl Ackermann
Keith Jarrett's affinity for the classics is well known. His solo piano and keyboard recordings in the genre include the music of Mozart, Shostakovich, Barber, Gurdjieff, Handel, Bartók, and others. The music of Johann Sebastian Bach is Jarrett's sweet spot with eight recordings--mostly two-disc sets--dominating his classical portfolio. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, features the work of another Bach, Johann's son. ECM issues this previously unreleased 1994 material, consisting of eighteen sonatas, as part of an ongoing deep-dive into ...
read moreThe Keith Jarrett / Charlie Haden Duo Revisited
by Dan McClenaghan
Pianist Keith Jarrett has enjoyed a long and productive career which eventually became dominated by his monumental improvised solo performances and his work with his Standards Trio, with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Along the way, he released albums by his now sometimes overlooked but excellent American and European Quartets. Revisiting almost everything in Jarrett's discography is rewarding, but his duo sessions with bassist Charlie Haden, recorded in 2007, especially so. These albums are Jasmine (ECM, ...
read moreKenny Wheeler: Gnu High
by Chris May
Trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer Kenny Wheeler's exalted Gnu High, first released in 1976, is one of two albums with which ECM launches its audiophile vinyl reissue series, Luminessence, on April 28, 2023. The Luminessence mission statement is to showcase albums that have changed perceptions of creative music making." And few would dispute this summation of the first batch of releases (listed below). Some of the albums will be presented in facsimile editions, others--such as Gnu High--in gatefold ...
read moreECM Records Touchstones: Part 2
by Dan McClenaghan
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 This second edition of ECM Touchstones" explores more of the label's early recordings, repackaged and offered up as a way to present music that had perhaps slipped through time's cracks, into the hard-to-find category. Of these, four were re-released in 2019, one in 2008--32 to 43 years after their original releases. The music on these albums is stylistically diverse and uniformly excellent. All of it has stood the test of ...
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