Gary Burton & Keith Jarrett - s/t (1971)

Another look at that period in Keith Jarrett's early career, previously visited on Expectations, where he was still figuring out his overall direction.  Sharing the limelight for this album was vibes maestro Gary Burton, who'd been recording for longer but was in a similar phase of experimenting with his modes of expression.  Both would end up at ECM within the year, and both had already recorded for Atlantic, the label for this self-titled and often under-rated LP.

The material is all Jarrett's except for Como En Vietnam written by Steve Swallow, the bassist for the album.  Jarrett takes a brief solo on soprano sax on that track, but otherwise sticks to piano.  Gary Burton sounds great throughout, with his cool, languid tone shining on the mid-tempo material, but equally capable on the upbeat, knottier moments.  The other supporting voice is session guitarist Sam Brown, who adds the same bluesy, funky touch that he brought to Expectations.  Think of this great little record as a distillation of some of the best bits of Expectations, with the huge added bonus of Gary Burton, and you can't go wrong.

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