Keith Jarrett 75 - A Sequence by Manfred Eicher

Album review

To mark the 75th birthday of Keith Jarrett, his long-time partner has compiled an album of five tracks available exclusively on Qobuz. This close friend of the American pianist happens to be Manfred Eicher, producer and founder of ECM, Keith Jarrett’s label for almost 50 years. On the 10th of November 1971, Jarrett was alone at his piano and Eicher was behind the console cutting the pianist’s first record with ECM: Facing You. “I don’t even know anymore how many records we have made together”, the German producer told Qobuz some years ago. “But looking at this collection retrospectively, it was quite an amazing achievement. The continuity! Everything down to continuity! This is where you can create new things and develop them.”

With dynamic group performances and solo improvisations of great depth, this Sequence by Keith Jarrett curated especially for Qobuz by Manfred Eicher, unveils the extraordinary creativity of the great pianist in a variety of musical contexts. Choosing from such an extensive discography couldn’t have been easy and Keith Jarrett 75 offers tracks in solo, duet, trio and quartet… The record opens with Never Let Me Go recorded in January 1983 with bass player Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, an extract from Standards, Vol.2. The song represents the beginnings of a great trio which never ceased to reinvent itself, endlessly referring back to the great pages of jazz history… This intense flurry of improvisation is followed by Creation, Part VII, recorded in the Auditorium Parco della Musica in Rome on the 11th of July 2014, taken from the album Creation; a long string of chords which evoke Jarrett’s ties to the classical repertoire…

Next up, a spot of retro on the third title, Personal Mountains, recorded on the 16th of April 1979 in Tokyo with saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bass player Palle Danielsson and drummer Jon Christensen, and taken from the album Sleeper released only in July 2012. The track is packed with lyricism and fury and reminds us of how these Scandinavian sidemen allow the American to develop an original discourse. On No Moon at All recorded in 2007 bass player Charlie Haden and released three years later on the album Jasmine, we are met with a magic and moving reunion after thirty years of separation as they jump at each-other’s throats. The combination of these egos produces an ethereal and sublime interaction…. To finish off this celebration, Manfred Eicher returns to the Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette trio with Flying, Part 1, an extract from the album Changes. While it was recorded during the sessions for the albums Standards, Vol.1 and Vol. 2 in January 1983, this recording displays a very Jarrett sense of improvisation and demonstrates his interactions with rhythm sections to which he leaves a large degree of freedom. A magical finale for a musician whose universe seems infinite. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz