Always Let Me Go

text

One of Keith Jarrett's defining qualities is his willingness to pursue diverse musical paths, often simultaneously. In the early days of his ascendancy, he juggled two excellent quartets, one European and one American, playing his original compositions for the most part, while also establishing himself as a peerless improviser on solo piano. Through the 1980's and into the 90's, he interpreted the jazz repertoire with trio mates Jack DeJohnette and Gary Peacock (the so-called "Standards Trio"), whilst also exploring the classical piano literature of Bach, Shostakovich, Handel and Mozart. And now -- in, around and after the millennium, Jarrett has returned to the loose, open-ended explorations of his solo period, only with DeJohnette and Peacock along this time for company.

In truth, this new phase is not so radical as it might first seem, and the results produced during an April 2001 live performance in Tokyo, captured here on two CDs, are highly satisfactory. The long association among the three musicians has given them a kind of collective prescience, and they circle around each other's lines, coaxing one another into new themes, tempos and rhythms. Listeners familiar with Jarrett's body of work will find many of his themes and preoccupations revisited on these CDs - blues, gospel, country, hard bop, minimalist trance, classical motifs and gnarly free improv - but with the added benefit of DeJohnette and Peacock's contributions. It's really the best of both worlds; because Jarrett's solo excursions, at their worst, tended to be a little long-winded and garrulous, like a witty friend a little too pleased with his own cleverness. The three musicians keep each other honest, and if Jarrett should begin to ramble, DeJohnette and Peacock are quite capable of reigning him in, saying "enough of that now - let's move on."

The only caveat for the listener is that this music perhaps takes a little more work than either the recordings by the Standards Trio or Jarrett's best solo recordings. The latter has lots of surface flash and drama, while the former usually has recognizable melodies for the listener to hook onto. This new music is "out there," on the edge, and while it is seldom discordant or abrasive, for maximum effect it requires the listener to participate actively in the musical journey so that he or she can fully appreciate the improvisational talents of these three fine musicians.