By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Somewhere
You can’t be a jazz fan and
not be familiar with pianist Keith Jarrett; he’s one of the world’s best known
and most recorded artists. He’s also one of the most prolific, although
his concerts and recordings have slowed during the past decade; this album is
only his tenth in recent years. That’s quite a change, considering he produced
more than 70 (!) during the preceding three decades.
I also must note that he has
done a dozen or so classical albums to date.
Jarrett was born in 1945 and
began playing piano at age 3; he was giving concerts at the tender age of
7. After graduating from high school, he attended Boston’s Berklee School
of Music for a year, then moved to New York City and began playing at the famous
Village Vanguard. That’s where Art Blakey heard and hired him, to play
with the Jazz Messengers. During that period, drummer Jack DeJohnette —
then playing with the Charles Lloyd Quartet — talked Jarrett into joining that group. Miles Davis was next,
and then Jarrett began to record with his own groups.
Somewhere
was recorded during a 2009 concert by Jarrett’s trio — DeJohnette and bassist
Gary Peacock — that took place at the KKL Luzern Concert Hall, but hasn’t been
released until now. For the most part, the album features Great American Songbook classics, although
the opening tracks are Miles Davis’ “Solar” and Jarrett’s “Deep Space.” The trio then deconstructs gems such as “Stars Fell on Alabama,” “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea” and
“I Thought About You.” They combine Bernstein’s “Somewhere” with Sondheim’s “Everywhere,” then proceed to
Bernstein’s “Tonight,” the latter unexpectedly played up-tempo. The stylish closer: Johnny
Mercer’s “I Thought About You.”
The result is one of
Jarrett’s best albums. Peacock has been with him for years, and his work
on this release is superior to anything I’ve heard previously; he’s as good as
any bassist playing today. DeJohnette is a truly great drummer; I remember
praise given by another percussionist, who said that “the best drummers are
those who are ‘felt’ more than heard,” and that perfectly describes DeJohnette.
No comments:
Post a Comment