Keith Jarrett Trio - Standards In Norway (rec. 1989, rel. 1995)

Typically transcendent telepathy from Jarrett, Peacock & DeJohnette, recorded in October 1989 at the Konserthus, Oslo, then released six years later in what now sounds like one of their very best live albums.  A slinky mid-tempo All Of You gives way to a gorgeous Little Girl Blue (lovely Peacock solo there), to a groovy Just In Time, and so on.  So no great surprises in the song selection, but then this trio's essence was always in taking the over-familiar and making it shine afresh like material that could've been composed yesterday.

link

pw: sgtg

The Standards Trio at SGTG:

Setting Standards: The New York Sessions

Changeless

Tribute (recorded on the same tour as Standards In Norway)

At The Blue Note: Saturday, June 4th 1994, 1st Set

Tokyo '96

Keith Jarrett Trio - Tribute (1990)

Haven't returned to Jarrett, let alone the Standards Trio, for a while on this blog now.  So here's a nice two-hour serving of phenomenal playing, interaction and improvisation, and not so phenomenal (but tolerable) vocalizing.  Tribute is a recording of a particularly sublime Jarrett-Peacock-DeJohnette concert held on 15th October 1989 at the Köln Philharmonie.  The 'Tribute' concept is that each track on the album is dedicated to a jazz legend who once performed it; the dedicatees are included in brackets after each song title in the tracklist.

Disc 1 gets underway with an effortless strut through Lover Man [Lee Konitz] and I Hear A Rhapsody [Jim Hall], everyone firing on all cylinders as expected.  The trio take the tempo down a bit for a gorgeous Little Girl Blue [Nancy Wilson] before the first half of the concert ends on a massive high.  Solar [Bill Evans] segues into a lengthy group improvisation, one of their very best, which was titled Sun Prayer for the album.

Disc 2 follows a similar pattern, with a frantic Just In Time [Charlie Parker] giving way to an achingly beautiful Smoke Gets In Your Eyes [Coleman Hawkins] and much more.  The finale doesn't spill straight over into improvisation this time: It's Easy To Remember [John Coltrane] deserves the spotlight in and of itself.  Then the trio launch into a minimal Jarrett groove with a Latin flavour, entitled U Dance (and you will - or at least tap a foot) for the final improv.  Gorgeous to the last drop. (I nicked that last line from a much better reviewer than me.)

Disc 1 link
Disc 2 link
pw: sgtg

Previously posted at SGTG:
Setting Standards: New York Sessions
Changeless
At The Blue Note: Saturday, June 4th 1994, 1st Set
Tokyo '96

Keith Jarrett Trio - Setting Standards: New York Sessions (2008 compi, rec. 1983)

This blog's had a decent sprinkling of Keith, Gary & Jack doing their thing in concert - see Changeless, Blue Note and Tokyo '96 - so here's the original studio blueprint for the Standards Trio, when they first recorded in a NYC studio at the beginning of 1983.  Three albums' worth of material ensued, and for the Standards Trio's 25th anniversary all three were reissued in this handy box.

It wasn't the first time ever that these three musicians had played together - that was a Peacock-led date in 1977.  This however was the moment when they chanced on the proposition (without even planning - see below!) that what jazz needed in 1983 was a back-to-basics Great American Songbook investigation, and one that breathed fresh life into these classic songs, making them sound freshly minted.  Case in point - the 15 minute joyous romp through Billie Holiday's God Bless The Child that ends the first disc here, originally released later in 1983 as Standards Vol. 1.

Apparently the recording session began with no rehearsal or song choices - they just simply played, and ended up with two hours' worth of standards and improvisations.  The two improvisations were in fact the next to be released, as Changes (1984) - an inspired, free-form album (Disc 3 in this box set) that built into this Standards Trio's modus operandi that they'd always leave room to improvise and run with a mood if it took them.  Changeless, as mentioned above, would be the next installment of that.  Lastly, in 1985, the cool and contemplative Standards Vol. 2 (Disc 2 here) was released, and was possibly the most successful album in creating an extended, unified mood reminiscent of Bill Evans' great trios.

original album covers

Disc 1
Disc 2
Disc 3

Keith Jarrett Trio - Tokyo '96 (rel. 1998)

From the intermittent SGTG tradition known as Jazz Piano Friday, some more Jarrett, Peacock & DeJohnette on rollicking form at the Orchard Hall, Tokyo on 30 March 1996.  By the time ECM released it two years later, Jarrett was laid low with ME/CFS, but would fortunately recover in time to take the Standards Trio into the 21st century for more transformed songbook classics and extended improvs.  Highlights on this particular release include the turbo-charged It Could Happen To You and Billie's Bounce in the first half, and the two Jarrett originals - Caribbean Sky and Song - that are effortlessly segued from standards at the end.

link

Previously posted at SGTG: Changeless / Blue Note June 4, 1994

Keith Jarrett Trio - Changeless (rec. 1987, rel. 1989)

By the late 80s, Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette had carved out their niche as the great standards trio - but in concert they were also leaving room to stretch out and improvise, whenever a particular groove led them.  Four especially inspired examples of this were collected on this album, from recordings of a US tour in October 1987; the fifteen minute Endless is generally held to be the standout, as it gradually weaves its hypnotic spell, and I'm not going to disagree.  An essential document of pure inspiration.

link

Keith Jarrett - At the Blue Note: Saturday, June 4th 1994, 1st Set

It's that time of year again for autumn leaves - to be specific, my favourite rendition of the Joseph Kosma chestnut, stretched to a thrilling 26 minutes by my favourite jazz piano trio.  After four minutes of Jarrett's solo meanderings, the Peacock/DeJohnette engine room revs up and locks in to an upbeat cruise through the melody, followed by plenty of soloing.  From the 13 minute mark onwards, we're into one of these stellar improvs that only this trio can pull off.

The Standards Trio spent a whole weekend's residency at the legendary Blue Note in June 1994, and every note they played was released the following year in a 6-CD box set.  This disc, the first set from Saturday night, was the only one to be released in its own right - presumably  because it's absolutely phenomenal from start to finish.  Everyone's at the top of their game, Jarrett's vocalisations are...tolerable, and the recording quality, as you'd expect, is peerless - perfect jazz club intimacy.  Other than Autumn Leaves, the other extended high-point of the set is You Don't Know What Love Is segueing into a Jarrett original called Muezzin.  Jack DeJohnette switches to hand percussion, and the results are pure magic.

link