{"id":1293,"date":"2019-02-20T21:58:43","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T21:58:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/?p=1293"},"modified":"2019-02-22T21:30:43","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T21:30:43","slug":"a-comparative-look-at-keith-jarretts-belonging-eyes-of-the-heart-lps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/2019\/02\/20\/a-comparative-look-at-keith-jarretts-belonging-eyes-of-the-heart-lps\/","title":{"rendered":"Keith Jarrett’s Tale of Two Quartets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keith Jarrett
\nBelonging<\/em> (1974, ECM)
\nRecorded 4\/24-25, 1974 in Oslo, Norway<\/em><\/p>\n

Eyes of the Heart (1979, ECM)
\nRecorded 5\/1976 in Bregenz, Austria<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You\u2019d be hard pressed to find a harder working jazz artist in the 1970s than Keith Jarrett. Whether it was his solo piano albums or endeavors into the classical world \u2013 not to mention performing and recording with two quartets concurrently \u2013 Jarrett released no fewer than 30 albums over the entire decade across three different labels.<\/p>\n

With a catalogue that vast, it can be difficult to understand his trajectory and impact on jazz once he struck out on his own after an acclaimed stint with the Charles Lloyd Quartet in the late 60s. But a side-by-side comparison of two releases from this era provides a fascinating snapshot of an artist in transition. Belonging<\/em> captures the unexpected rise of his European quartet while Eyes of the Heart <\/em>chronicles the fractured final gasps of his American quartet.<\/p>\n

Belonging<\/em> rose out of a suggestion by ECM Records head Manfred Eicher to pair Jarrett with Norwegian saxophonist and labelmate Jan Garbarek. Eicher likely had little idea how immediately fruitful the pairing would be. All recordings here are first takes, and in Ian Carr\u2019s Keith Jarrett biography, Garbarek shares that the entire session was finished in two hours, adding \u201cit was a big thing for me to play with Keith. I loved his music very much, and to have this opportunity \u2013 I was so concentrated\u201d (76-77). Even more impressive is the fact that these songs capture the first time the group\u2019s rhythm section \u2013 Palle Danielsson on bass and John Christensen on drums \u2013 set eyes on the music. Jarrett\u2019s one-take mentality, inspired by his tenure with Miles Davis, makes the music feel especially fresh, light yet fine-tuned.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpiral Dance\u201d carries the patient tension of a string slowly being tightened until Garbarek\u2019s sax lightens the proceedings.\u00a0 Danielsson ably finds his way up and down his bass, with Jarrett comping and Christensen\u2019s drums delightfully coloring along. There seems to be a pervasive spirit of collective listening. \u201cBlossom\u201d in turn shows the quartet\u2019s ability to play slowly and tenderly. The interplay between Garbarek and Jarrett is particularly notable here.<\/p>\n

While Belonging<\/em> signaled a triumphant intro for Jarrett\u2019s new European unit, an ensemble where he didn\u2019t feel the need to constantly be edgy, Eyes of the Heart<\/em>, recorded in 1976 but not released until 1979, captures the sad denouement of his American Quartet, which included Dewey Redman on sax, Charlie Haden on bass, and Paul Motian on drums.<\/p>\n

A double disc that only contains three sides, Eyes of the Heart <\/em>was supposed to include a performance of the group\u2019s acclaimed \u201cSurvivors\u2019 Suite.\u201d However, as Jarrett reveals in Carr\u2019s biography, group miscommunication marred their performance that evening in Austria.<\/p>\n

This moment comes into focus on side two, which starts with a seeking vamp, similarly somber to side one but with rays of sunshine sprinkled at the intro. Motian appears in a flash, brash cymbal crashes and snare rolls adding a shade of urgency. Jarrett\u2019s solo widens the scope, pleading with a wider tonal palette, then ruminates again. With no context, he\u2019s voicing uncertainty; knowing the backstory, it becomes apparent this is where Jarrett\u2019s waiting, ever more impatiently, for input from Redman that never arrives. The piano fades to one phrase, then opens again \u2013 to no avail.<\/p>\n

When Redman finally plays, to heavy applause, his lines soar, power notes and speedy runs. There\u2019s a touch of Eastern mysticism and a hazy distance that adds tinges of exotic danger to his horns as it bites more, unraveling bitter spits amidst cluttered, musical wayfinding. Motian\u2019s whole body is into the kit.<\/p>\n

The evening\u2019s missed connections converge in a powerful way on side three, comprised of three encores. \u201cEncore-a\u201d pounds with joy. The quartet feels careless and home free. There\u2019s an ecstatic undertone, Jarrett\u2019s gospel-esque voicings inspiring Motian to action like a Quaker shaking down the aisle, his hands delivering patient electricity. \u201cEncore-B\u201d showcases Redman and Jarrett trading phrasings, a sometimes playful back-and-forth that also carries tense undertones. It\u2019s Jarrett at solo piano for \u201cEncore C.\u201d Knowing the context now \u2013 that the group would be no more in a month\u2019s time \u2013 it\u2019s hard not to hear his finale like a parting kiss. Applause, and on to the next for Jarrett.<\/p>\n

When asked about the recording, Jarrett told Carr \u201c \u2018I remember too vividly how stupid that whole situation was. I can\u2019t listen to the music objectively. All I do remember is why that vamp is so long, and why this was happening.\u2019\u201d Carr adds \u201cThat experience had made him realize he was \u2018alone out there\u2019 and that it was not a quartet any more\u201d (83). For these reasons, Jarrett asked ECM head Manfred Eicher to initially withhold release, though he did finally relent.<\/p>\n

In the years since, Jarrett has found worldwide acclaim with yet another group, his Standards Trio featuring Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Compared to the acoustic, more classicist approach of this ensemble, it can be striking how wide-open Jarrett\u2019s work once was with his American quartet, and how greatly varied his output was in the first decade of his experience as a bandleader.<\/p>\n

When diving into the American quartet, Expectations <\/em>is a great entry point that helps preface their masterful album The Survivors\u2019 Suite<\/em>. If you like what you hear on Belonging<\/em>, Personal Mountains <\/em>showcases the European Quartet\u2019s fabulous interplay live.<\/p>\n

Words by Brandon Roos – 2019
\n@brandiathan<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keith Jarrett Belonging (1974, ECM) Recorded 4\/24-25, 1974 in Oslo, Norway Eyes of the Heart (1979, ECM) Recorded 5\/1976 in Bregenz, Austria   You\u2019d be hard pressed to find a harder working jazz artist in the 1970s than Keith Jarrett. Whether it was his solo piano albums or endeavors into the classical world \u2013 not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":0,"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":""},"categories":[32,1],"tags":[74,71,73,75,72,70],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1293"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/needletothegroove.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}