The Out-Of-Towners

[Alfred]

The next ECM live recording of the Keith Jarrett Trio will be released on August, 31. It's a live session from 2001 (recorded in Munich, Germany).

They are all brilliant musicians and the music they created for decades are great. But I'm not sure if I really need another Jarrett live date.

[DrJ]

I know what you mean and agree - their discography is starting to look a lot like Kenny Drew's on Steeplechase or John Zorn's on Tzadik. I physically couldn't keep up with any of these, even if I were inclined to do so.

[RDK]

Agreed. It's all great stuff, but I really wish Jarrett would record again in more varied settings.

[JohnS]

I think I can manage another. They have all been consistently good and Jarrett has a great way with standards, tempo and interpretation is always spot on.

[jazzbo]

I think there's room for more. There actually IS variety within the Trio format and their recordings. They occasionally release a record more reliant on original compositions (and these really have a special groove and feel to them!) as well as sortof straight and sortof notsostraight standards sessions. . . .

Ah hell, I dig the group and enjoy knowing more is coming out as time goes by. This is a group that has had surprising staying power!

[CJ Shearn]

I haven't finished listening to the At the Blue Note box yet . There is a lot of variety within the standards, I agree with Lon, especially when they hit on those vamps (the incredible 26 min "Autumn Leaves" on disc 3 of the Blue Note set) I also find out of the recent "free" albums I prefer "Inside Out" to "Always Let Me Go", sure the latter might go farther out, but "Inside Out" is more cohesive. Both emphasize a melodic approach to free improvisation that I prefer over more dissonant stuff.

Edited August 4, 2004 by CJ Shearn

[Michael Fitzgerald]

As the group with perhaps the finest sense of musical interaction and the highest standards of execution currently playing, this trio has very few peers. I have every release, go to see them live each tour, and for me, another CD by them is always welcome. So many other groups hit a peak and then decline, or else they disband prematurely, leaving us to wonder "what if?" The Jarrett trio is *still* playing at that very high level and as mentioned, they *have* been exploring other things - remember, this is the group that started off playing "standards". Then we got some free stuff, we got some bebop and hard bop, we got some originals - how much more do you want? Besides, it was not long ago that there was the very real possibility of NO further recordings or performances by Keith Jarrett. As for the varied settings, this is what it is - you can't complain about steak not tasting like lobster. Would I buy a new CD of say, Jarrett reunited with Jan Garbarek? Absolutely. But this is a trio record and I look forward to hearing it.

Mike

[RDK]

As for the varied settings, this is what it is - you can't complain about steak not tasting like lobster. Would I buy a new CD of say, Jarrett reunited with Jan Garbarek? Absolutely. But this is a trio record and I look forward to hearing it.

Don't get me wrong, Mike, I'm looking forward to this release and will almost certainly get it. I think I have all of Jarrett's trio recordings as well. He cooks up a very good steak. I was just hoping for a bit of lobster once in a while...

Part of the problem, at least for me, is that I think so highly of this group and expect any new recordings to be of such high quality that there's little to be surprised about whenever a new CD comes out. I know what to expect and there's not the same "sense of discovery" I get from listening to an unfamiliar artist or a known artist in an unfamiliar setting.

[JSngry]

When they're all dead everybody WILL want more.

Buy now, take your time, enjoy forever.

[RDK]

When they're all dead everybody WILL want more.

Buy now, take your time, enjoy forever.

Point taken. But considering a finite amount of money to spend on music, the question often becomes: do I stick with the tried-and-true that I'm almost certain to like or do I try something new-and-different, with potentially different risks and rewards...

[Michael Fitzgerald]

That's a good question and one that I have pondered many times. I still don't have a perfect answer for it. Judging by my collection one might think my answer is "do both!"

Then there's that finite amount of listening time in one's lifetime....

Anyway, for me, Keith Jarrett is another "buy-sight-unseen" like Maria Schneider. I mean, he's putting out a record a year, he's not doing sideman appearances, he's not oversaturating the market like whoever - David Murray or Lee Konitz, say.

Mike

[GregK]

They are all brilliant musicians and the music they created for decades are great. But I'm not sure if I really need another Jarrett live date.

I need another Jarret trio live record like I need another breath. I'll pick up his trio records the day they're released and enjoy them until the next one is out and beyond

[king ubu]

What Lon said!

I don't have even half of their discs, but I do know there are more to come...

ubu

[cannonball-addict]

Would I buy a new CD of say, Jarrett reunited with Jan Garbarek?

Not given this:

Though, I would like to see Keith Jarrett duo with Herbie Hancock or with Renee Rosnes.

Edited November 20, 2004 by cannonball-addict

[Michael Fitzgerald]

My own preference would be KJ and Chick Corea (who have done concerts together) over the two pianists you mentioned, but I wouldn't pass up those recordings.

I have not followed Garbarek at all lately so I really can't comment. But the combinations he did with Jarrett showed a special rapport. Maybe he's still got it in him, maybe not.

Mike

[RDK]

I gotta agree that most of Garbarek's recent albums haven't been to my taste, but the live - er, um, radio broadcasts - stuff that I've heard have been pretty tasty. He can still play more "jazzy" when he wants to.

[cannonball-addict]

Ultimate album: Keith Jarrett with Branford. Liner notes written by Bob Blumenthal.

(anyone who was at IAJE last year)

[DrJ]

Just catching up with this thread again. My problem isn't that there isn't variety enough to justify the Jarrett Trio's documentation (every one of the titles I have sounds different) but simply just that with all the other stuff out there to buy I can't keep up!

Luckily with Jarrett being a good seller and ECM's policies these ought to be in print for a long time.

[Guest ariceffron]

i agree with mike the kj trio is always really good but i too wish he would do an album w/ the redman/haden/motian group again

[GregK]

I'd like to see a whole box of the more "out" stuff they were playing a couple years ago. That was some of the best trio music I've ever heard

[Joe G]

So, did any of you pick up this title? What do you think of it?

[GregK]

I got it, it's as good as you'd expect, but the title tune is a great, long, free-ish piece that turns into a blues near the end. Overall very good but ultimately more of the same.

[pryan]

I have absolutely 0 KJ trio albums. Where would one "take the plunge"?

[GregK]

I have absolutely 0 KJ trio albums. Where would one "take the plunge"?

Whisper Not is made up of mostly jazz (boppish) standards, while most of the other ones are pop standards. But they play the hell out of anything so, as Keith says, it's not so much the material that matters, it's what they do with it that does. Bye Bye Blackbird is a tribute to Miles recorded a week or 2 after he died and is a very good one, but is somewhat unique because it's a studio recording, not a live one, so there is a slight difference in feel. Tribute is a live set made up of standards done in tribute to various influences. Inside Out is a bluesy, "out" record, all originals except for a When I fall in Love encore, and is one of my favorites. Always Let Me Go is from the same territory, less bluesy, even more out and is probably my favorite of all. Long pieces (2 are over 30 minutes, some are in the 15 min range), very abstract, and to me Jack's drumming is very powerful on this one. At the Deer Head Inn is a nice comparison because it is a live record from an Inn where Keith played in his earliest days-Paul Motian is the drummer, and it's a very good set. Very swinging. The Blue Note box would be the best place to start if you can afford it- it has everything, and lots of it! Check out the 20+min version of Autumn Leaves on disc 3-outstanding!!! If you can't afford that one, Still Live is a good place to start if you want to hear their take on standards. Double disc, great versions of standards, and one or two Jarrett originals tacked onto the endings of a couple songs. A long reply, I know, but I love this music and could talk for days about it. The rest of them that I haven't mentioned here are made up of mostly standards, similar to each other but above all, wonderful. You really can't go wrong choosing at random

[RDK]

Paul, you can jump into any of them without fear. My advice is to look over the track listings and pick the one with some of your favorite standards to see what the trio does with them. After all these years (20+), I still have a particular fondness for Standards, vol. 1 - the very first one - for the amazing version of "God Bless the Child."