KEITH JARRETT
SELECTED RECORDINGS: RARUM I ECM
Records
It's hardly surprising that Keith Jarrett's
contribution to ECM's Rarum series of selected recordings
chosen by the artist should be a two-disc set absolutely packed
with music. After all, Jarrett's work with the label spans
some 30 years of music created in a variety of styles and
with a variety of groups, from solo works to duets and larger
ensembles. Furthermore, Jarrett has played not only acoustic
piano on these recordings, but also clavichord, soprano sax,
pipe organ, and various percussion instruments. Jarrett says
that he attempted to offer selections that would "direct
the listener's attention to recordings that either have been,
in my opinion, heard less than I feel is their due, or have
escaped recent (and younger fans') awareness." Time constraints
prevented the inclusion of quite a bit that he felt should
have been included (he tells you what those are in the notes)
and didn't permit the inclusion of his more celebrated solo
piano works (Koln Concert, for example), but those
are best heard in their entirety, anyway. The resulting collection
is much like Jarrett himself-ambitious, inclusive, sometimes
pretentious, at times annoying, and, in a word, simply breathtaking
in their beauty and power.
The first disc begins with three selections
from Book of Ways, solo clavichord improvisations (Jarrett
reminds us that all the solo performances here, regardless
of instrument, are totally improvised). Actually, there were
three clavichords set up in the studio-two positioned so that
they could be played at the same time, and the third off to
one side. The clavichord doesn't seem to be particularly suited
to Jarrett's percussive attack on some of these selections,
and overall I have to say that this is not one of my favorites.
We move next into "Heartland", a piano improvisation
done at a concert in Bergenz that is very gospel-influenced
and uplifting. Here we hear Jarrett's characteristic groans
and cries that are a hallmark of his playing, both live and
in the studio. Given the character of the piece, they fit
in particularly well, but in any case they really don't distract
from the performance as you might expect them to.
Five pieces from the album Spirits follow,
and these feature Jarrett playing all the instruments (soprano
sax, Pakistani flute, recorders, piano, tabla, and percussion),
overdubbed using two cassette recorders. This was not a really
popular album at the time of its release, probably because
too many critics saw it as an exercise in self-indulgence,
but the music is really beautiful and seems to flow very freely-Jarrett
himself has commented that he did not so much compose the
pieces as he allowed them to happen. My favorite is "Spirits
13" which has a real Native American feeling to it, featuring
Jarrett on percussion, tabla, and the Pakistani flute. Hymns/Spheres
was a very daring work, with Jarrett improvising on an organ
at the Benedictine Abbey in Ottobeuren. Jarrett experimented
with the organ (built in the 1700s), partially opening its
stops to create new sounds. The result was an interesting
and intense work that unfortunately bordered, at times, on
tedium. ECM released only a portion of the two-LP set on a
single CD entitled Spheres and here we get one track,
"Spheres (7th Movement)". The piece is dark, filled
with slowly building and dissonant chord clusters and drones,
and should give the listener a good idea of whether he or
she wants to pursue the work further.
Rounding out Disc One are some awesome tracks
done with a quartet of Jarrett, saxophonist Jan Gabarek, bassist
Palle Danielsson, and drummer Jon Christensen done in 1974
and 1977. "The Windup" is another gospel-tinged
number that moves along quickly and lightly. These are, in
fact, the most accessible numbers on the collection, certain
to appeal to most any listener. "Long As You Know You're
Living Yours" sounds suspiciously like Steely Dan's song
"Gaucho" from the album of the same name-and for
good reason-Donald Fagen "lifted" (this was before
sampling, remember) the track. In any case, it's a buoyant,
uplifting beauty of a track either way. "My Song: and
"The Journey Home", done three years later are a
bit more introspective, though "Journey Home" offers
much of the same feel-good vibe of the previous two tracks.
Disc Two opens with some solo piano Jarrett,
albeit of a different ilk than his Koln and similar live recordings
done in the 70s. The two tracks here, "Recitative"
and "Americana" come from 1987's Dark Intervals
recorded in Tokyo. The improvisations are shorter (hence their
inclusion here) and often much simpler both in style and harmonically.
This might lead to a general conclusion that the recording
is a mere shadow of Jarrett's great live improvisational output,
it is more a case of a more distilled style that conveys the
strength of Jarrett's music without nearly as many stylistic
flourishes. Next come two tracks from Invocations/The Moth
and the Flame recorded again in Ottobeuren (which seems
to have had a powerful effect on Jarrett's imagination), with
Jarrett playing solo soprano sax (again improvised) on "Invocation
(First)" and accompanying himself on pipe organ on "Invocation
(Fifth)". These are ponderous compositions, again more
darkly brooding and reminiscent of the Hymns/Spheres
work (again, the locale must have been a strong influence).
"Munich, Part IV", recorded in 1981, rounds out
the solo piano Jarrett work heard on this album, and it is
a bit more similar to the early solo concert work many listeners
are familiar with.
In 1979 Jarrett returned to the quartet with
Gabarek, Danielsson, and Christensen, and the result, heard
here on the track "Late Night Willie" were remarkably
similar to the quartet's earlier recordings. The conclusion
of Disc Two is given over primarily to the Keith Jarrett "Standards"
trio of Jarrett, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Jack DeJohnette,
so named because they do sublime interpretations of a lot
of standard jazz material. However, on this CD we hear them
performing Jarrett classics, "The Cure" from the
album of the same name, and "Bop-Be" and "No
Lonely Nights" from At the Blue Note: The Complete
Recordings. Little needs to be said about the quality
of this group to anyone who has ever heard them play. They
work together like few trios ever have, being in a class with
Chick Corea's classic trio with Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes,
the legendary Bill Evans trio comprised of Evans, Scott LaFaro
and Paul Motian, and the original Oscar Peterson trio. It
is worth noting that all the material on this collection,
including the trio work, comes from the period prior to Jarrett's
bout with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The collection ends with
"Hymn of Remembrance", a track from the original
Hymns/Spheres album that is sublime with a deeply spiritual
feeling, as is indicated by the title. Perhaps ECM should
consider releasing Hymns/Spheres in its entirety at
this time.
"If any listener goes out and buys any
of the albums represented here (or suggested), the job was
worth doing," says Jarrett in his liner notes. I can't
help but think that his time on this project was very well
spent.
