Octo_Russ

Keith Jarrett [Standards - Volume One] 

Early in my Blog, i played this disc and reported on my experiences [1st February 2010], and what i wrote there i echo here, this disc had now come around for some nice re-listening, my disc collection is such that it takes nearly 18 months for an album to be played again!, but boy when i do play a treasured album again, it's a treasured experience, and hearing these three guys playing 'telepathic' Jazz is so exciting.

Keith Jarrett was born in 1945 in America, making him now 66, he recorded this disc in 1983, the front cover is very sparse, no picture, as is fairly usual with ECM issues, they don't do a lot for me, but the music on the inside is fantastic.

However much i enjoy tracks 1-4, and i certainly was wowed by them, it's the final track 5 closer 'God Bless The Child' that is just stunning, it's fifteen and a half minutes of pure Jazz heaven, it's just perfection, and remains my very favourite Jazz track of all time, just a little way in, and the piano changes tack, there's a superb refrain [1:24+], and a track that was already full of inspiration, now reaches into the heights of the sublime, Jarrett really gets into the piece with his vocalise [2:26+], and the notes of the piano with Jack DeJohnette's rhythmic drumming, is so mesmerising, and when the chorus comes in, Jarrett uses some very nice treble notes [3:49+], and the refrain that Jarrett brings in towards the end of Gary Peacock's Bass solo [6:03+], where he changes the key, is so gut wrenching, later after Jack DeJohnette's Drum solo, Jarrett creates a trance like stabbings in readiness to bring in the main theme again [9:26-9:52], and when that main theme returns [9:52+], it's like a million knots being untied, it's so loaded with resolution, towards the end Jarrett brings in the verse again [11:23+], and embellishes the tune with some lovely bass warblings [11:26 & 11:29], Gary Peacock is excellent at this point too, the piece develops a sort of outro / coda feeling, but it goes on and on, and the three musicians just seem to like to jam, it develops quite an intensity, Gary Peacock's outro is really nice, and Jack DeJohnette's closing down of the piece is superb, a genius of a creation.

Here's Keith Jarrett playing this piece on YouTube.