Jazz's greatest piano trio. This is the best way to describe the 25-year partnership between Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. They are an institution of jazz and My Foolish Heart is their 18th recording, all on ECM. The double album was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2001 and is an exhilarating and playful performance which romps through the history of jazz as the trio plays pieces by Fats Waller, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Gerry Mulligan and more, as well as a scattering of show tunes and standards from the Great American Songbook. This album is - in terms of the musical range addressed - one of the most comprehensive in the discography of Jarrett, Peacock and DeJohnette. This fall, ECM is also releasing a speciallypriced 3-CD box set of the first recording session that the Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette ever made together. Setting Standards is a combined reissue of Standards Vol. I, Standards Vol. II and Changes, the three albums recorded in one session at New York's Power Station in 1983. The albums have been remastered in 24bit/192kHz and the box set will include new liner notes and archival photos.
Setting Standards brings together three classic recordings; Standards Vol. 1, Standards Vol. 2 and Changes. Music brought to life in a sustained burst of creativity in 1983 at New York's Power Station. Presented now for the first time in a specially priced 3-CD box set. Having wrapped up two volumes of standards, the trio then moved on to improvisational areas resulting in the album, Changes. Three top flight albums recorded in one day! Not only that, the musicians had mapped out the area - from the Great American Songbook to free play - that they would continue to explore for the next quarter-century, making them perhaps the most widely-admired jazz group in the world today. This re-release celebrates 25 years of the "Standards Trio" It includes historical session photos by Deborah Feingold and updated liner notes by Peter Rüedi.
A musical chameleon, pianist Keith Jarrett was at his finest when he recorded these sustained solo improvisations in a German concert hall in 1975, the first lasting 26 minutes, the second 40. Melodies and rhythmic figures arise fluidly from his fingers as he moves from one idea to another, while his strong left hand is often used for repeated motifs that generate a rolling hypnotic power. This couples with strongly consonant harmonies to impart the flavor of gospel music at times, dance musics and Debussy at others. Above all, it's Jarrett's ability to knit all of his moods and wanderings into an almost seamless tapestry of warm and tuneful ideas that gives this music its enduring appeal. --Stuart Broomer
