Customer Reviews

Bye Bye Blackbird

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I originally came to this site to purchase the great Keith Jarrett Trio disc "Changeless", and I was seeing reviews of various books and albums, which of course made me think about writing one after seeing so many entries of inspiration! Well, I have to say something about "Bye Bye Blackbird", in case anyone is thinking about purchasing the cd. This was the first album I came to know of the unique collective known as Jarrett/Peacock/DeJohnette. I was a freshman in high school then, and I must say it was intersting to hear Jarrett groaning and cooing. I didn't know whether to think it was strange, or just part of his way of expressing himself. But what I did know was that he was honest, and obviously meditating on someone for which he cared very much: Miles. As the years passed, I would hear and read from critics of Jarrett that his vocal accompaniments were nonsensical, and a distraction to the music...or, "If you can get past the grunts of what sounds like the annihilation of an endangered species, there's a couple of really cool solos on there...y'know? " To me these words sing the tune of bologna, and for a devoted fan - stinky bologna. "Bye bye Blackbird", as an album, is without question one of the greatest introductions to the inner workings of this trio, and offers several "trio" perspectives represented in the repertoire. Tunes which are not commonly played (by themselves, as well as with any other trio) are explored with Miles in mind, and then the highlight is "For Miles" - a work of pure imagination, and without the rhetoric from which a lot of through-improvised pieces must endure. Other than this record, I would say the best introduction to this magical group is the album "Standards, Vol. 1"; but it is THIS album which draws from source after source, giving you a journey in listening with no beginning, and no end. Who knows, maybe it'll change the way you listen to modern music all together! Another side-note which makes this album a true gem - Jarrett and Dejohnette played together in a group of Miles' (which I'm sure the die-hards don't need to hear from me).... Until a later date, keep the music alive!

This is amongst my favorite performances by the Jarrett/DeJohnette/Peacock trio. They are in peak form throughout, particularly in terms of their interplay, and the music is particularly touching for this band.

For Miles is beautiful and genius. It won't make sense, at least the parts not dominated by Jarrett's melodies, if you're not comfortable with the sort of abstract stuff that Peacock and Dejohnette did apart from Jarrett around the time. (Usually with other ECM artists, like Paul Bley.)

But it's well worth getting comfortable.

First, let me say I am a big fan of Keith Jarrett's trio work. I have many of them, including the Blue Note box set, and I thoroughly enjoy them. His "vocalizing" has not bothered me nearly as much as it clearly does some people. And my comments about this album are NOT about the vocalizing (although it is significantly worse than on many other Jarrett recordings).

The sound of the music itself is absolutely abysmal, in my humble opinion - VERY compressed (i.e. little dynamic range), very poor tonal quality and clarity, etc. I could go on and on. I was shocked, to be honest, as the sound of his other recordings varies from very good to excellent, and the sound of ECM recordings in general is excellent. I don't know what to say beyond this. I found no reason to listen to this music, when I have so many other alternatives from Jarrett's trio. Maybe I got a bad copy somehow? I don't otherwise know how to explain the fact that others have not complained about the sound. Maybe ECM has fixed whatever problem there may have been? This CD was recently purchased, however (winter of 05/06)

Keith Jarrett is at his lyrical best through most of this album, swinging on the uptempo numbers and connecting with strong emotional content on the ballads. The styles range a bit widely, but because the group is so tight and cohesive it holds together. My only reservation is the track "For Miles," which to me doesn't hold up and is way overlong. OK, I understand that others will disagree, and that Jarrett wanted to make a strong personal statement about his old friend Miles, but the track rambles and does not have any unifiying theme or melodic sense. For my taste, it drags, and at 18 minutes is quite skippable. No worries, though. Like most people, I copy my CDs to the hard drive, and even without "For Miles" you'll have 49 minutes of very expressive, lyrical, swinging, intelligent and emotional music. I'm very happy I bought this disc.

Trio tribute suffers from Jarrett's near-exorcism of possessed grunts, groans, hums and howls which plague otherwise crisp delivery. A shame little more restraint was not involved- the centerpiece extended jam with some tasty covers on the side with these three made for nice potential, only partially fulfilled.

I purchased this c.d. because of the glowing recommendation I read on this website. In fact, this is not one of Jarrett's better albums. The verbal distractions are horrific: buzzing, grunting, groaning in alleged ecstasy. You can hardly follow the music at times.

I've heard Jarrett play Bach and Monk superbly. If he would only keep his mouth shut when swinging!

Oh yes, the piece For Miles is abstract and not particularly interesting. The distractions are at a minimum, however.