Keith Jarrett: Inside Out/Anders Jormin: Xieyi

Refreshing the Idiom : New Jazz From ECM.

Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette : Inside Out (ECM 1780)

Anders Jormin : Xieyi (ECM 1762)

German label ECM has established a reputation for offering some of the most elegant examples of jazz from Europe and elsewhere. The music is always recorded with meticulous attention to the acoustic properties of both instruments and location. These recent releases are further examples of this.

In July 2000, Keith Jarrett’s Standards Trio played two nights at The Royal Festival Hall and surprised some by abandoning the repertoire for which they are best known. Inside Out, the resultant album, has no standards on it but instead relies on the trio’s immense experience of playing varieties of jazz. The have all performed in many contexts from ‘free’ to mainstream and these pieces exhibit some of that accumulated wealth of knowledge. One of their common points of reference is the blues, as Jarrett points out himself :

It should be obvious when listening how important the blues are here. We somehow couldn’t avoid blues language in London, even in the context of free playing; the blues are so pervasive and true.

Elements of the blues do, indeed, pervade the album but it is possible to hear traces of be-bop, gospel, hymnal and other melodic sources. They take these forms, revive and refresh them as part of the overall mix. On the opening piece, ‘From The Body’ there are even echoes of Monk’s angular approaches as well as more typically fluent runs from Jarrett. His excursions at the keyboard are wonderfully accented by DeJohnette’s crisp and agile percussion and Peacock’s light but firmly anchored bass. They also construct moments of calm togetherness, for example in the title track when Jarrett sets up a series of chords against the hushed brushwork and the bass’ gentle nudging at the rhythm. It has a restrained gospel feel before moving into a blues improvisation.

Of course there are darker moments when Jarrett focuses on the lower end of the piano’s range and the trio create swirling, intense interplay. ‘Riot’ is the best example of this and probably the most ‘free’ of all the tracks. But when thinking of the term ‘free’ I’m reminded of another context, that of Jarrett’s solo work, which draws on all the sources used here as well as the odd standard from the songbook. Imagine a coalition between The Koln Concert or Staircase and The Melody At Night With You and you will be somewhere close to the music on this recording. They do include one standard too, ‘When I Fall In Love’, and it is a model of restraint drawing out the many nuances of a well-worn tune.

According to Jarrett there will be more ‘spur of the moment’ recordings in the future. Judging by these performances it will be a development worth watching.

ECM’s considered use of location is demonstrated on Anders Jormin’s Xieyi which uses the ‘church-like Organ Hall at the school of music and musicology in Goteborg, Sweden’ as the setting for his double bass explorations. These cover an eclectic range of material, from Scandinavian hymns, tone-poems by Swedish composers Taube and Forssen, interpretations of Ornette Coleman’s work and Jormin’s own compositions and improvisations. Again, there is a sense of taking known material and giving it a fresh voice using the instrument’s often dark, powerful resonance. Listen to the arco reading of Violeta Parra’s ‘Gracias a la Vida’ which explores the depths of a passionate melody and reminds the listener that this is actually a song and the voice of the bass is really singing.

On his own pieces, like ‘Decimas’ and ‘Tenk’, he makes effective use of a variety of techniques including rapid flurries and clusters mixed with longer, sustained notes. He plucks and bends strings, strumming chords and leaving spaces for single notes to linger in the air. The simplicity of Evert Taube’s ‘Fragrancia’ , delivered in a sensitive, unadorned manner conveys the melody directly, almost like a child’s song, whilst a contrast is offered by his treatment of Coleman’s ‘War Orphans’. This is a virtuoso performance allowing Jormin to demonstrate his range of approaches to a composition, beginning with a percussive use of the bow producing brief rhythmic notes. The bow also creates overtones making it sound like two instruments in places. It is a haunting, melancholy track.

The other revelation on he cd is the inclusion of six miniatures for brass quartet. These, all penned by Jormin, were recorded in another location and have a complementary and contrasting role. The richness of the combined brass contributes a set of fresh textures between the sometimes sombre bass features. The brevity of these quartet pieces left me wanting to hear more of his compositions for such a line-up. Perhaps that is something for a future cd.

Paul Donnelly