Customer Reviews

Dark Intervals

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

These are relatively concise solo piano pieces by Keith Jarrett recorded live in Japan. He tends to take a simple idea and develop it slowly, without melodrama, and very little overt technical display. Of course, everything is played and recorded with great beauty. These are some of the best tunes Jarrett has come up with, and I find them mostly very moving. In the hands of lesser players, these same themes would disintegrate into sappy newage. "Entrance" is a striking descending melody that just cries out to be arranged into a song.

After spending 100s of hours listening to Jarrett's cd's, probably more than 50, i can name myself a very good Jarrett's reviewer. Please believe me this is Jarrett at his best. Recorded live in Tokyo this CD contains some of the best pieces he ever made. The pieces are not lengthy, appr. 5-7mins and they never become boring or so. All of them can be seen as small soundtracks of little stories of our lives. Definetly my favourite Jarrett's piece ever is "Americana", the most fascinating story he ever told us with his piano. "Think of your ears as eyes" as he once said and enjoy this cd

this music is incredible. KJ didnt hold anything back when playing this (as if he ever did). these are unusually short for keith, but not lacking in quality at all. while this may not be one of keith's more celebrated works, it is excellent, and, keith himself included two tracks from this cd on his recent release of selected recordings (as ECM recently did with many of their artists). my favorite track on the cd, which also happens to be one of the ones that keith selected for the recent ECM release, is 'Americana'. this song is absolutely beautiful and im sure i've listened to it hundreds of times. i know that i've left that song alone on repeat both while in bed and while on the comp. late at night. this was some of the first KJ i ever heard on his own (i had heard him w/ miles before, but thats very different). i highly recommend this cd to anyone interested in great dark improvised piano. another great example of keith's genius and ability to utilize his masterful technique when he chooses, but, more importantly, to restrain his use and speak with fewer notes when he so chooses also. keith is a master of the keys, but doesnt use this ability for show; he is one of the most tasteful pianists to ever live and knows how to use understatement

This is an excellent if different live improvised Jarrett title; within it is contained 8 very unique and distict movements that range from deep, thundering showers of sound to joyful, folish melodies, none of which are very long. Each movement, unlike longer Jarrett improvisations, tends to focus on a single idea for the entire duration of the movement, rather than Jarrett roaming from idea to idea and mood to mood within a single sitting as he does on his longer improvs. The melodies found on this disc are top rate, and all of the movements are equally enjoyable. Jarrett's vocalizations are restrained as well, a definite plus for those not adjusted to listening to his mutterings. An excellent album for both hardcore Jarrett fans and those becoming more interested in his work.

To listen to this album with good headphones on is an obscenely ecstatic experience. I won't call it a "religious" experience, because Jarrett is so clearly human, so full of stormy emotions and dark moods. He is not some superior being removed from the travails of human experience.

But his musical genius does seem God-like and huge and all-encompassing. I mean, I don't even know what you would call this music he creates. It's like Bach and Beethoven filtered through the prism of Thelonius Monk and Jellyroll Morton and then anointed with Shostakovitch and Rachmaninov. And even that doesn't begin to explain it.

I have listened to a LOT of music in my lifetime, and what Keith Jarrett produces on this album surpasses my wildest dreams. Just buy this, put some headphones on, and prepare to be washed away in a wave of incomparable beauty.

Dark Intervals is an unusual Keith Jarrett Concert album in that the songs are much shorter than the usual 30 to 45 minute full concert improvisations that one hears on albums like Paris Concert or La Scala or Sun Bear Concerts. Because of that, the pieces here are more focused, approximating Jarrett's studio recordings. Personally, I loved the Opening piece, which eventually descends into a low rumble of bass trills. But it's how Jarrett gets there that is interesting. The other pieces on the album range from average (for Jarrett) to superb. As one reviewer said, there's still nobody who sounds remotely like Jarrett.

The first cut aside (you'll only be able to handle it every so often), the balance of pieces on this album are, IMO, some of the most hauntingly beautiful I've ever heard. I've had this album for years, and it keeps making its way back onto my changer. I'd have titled the album "Soulful Intervals", because, although dark, these intervals speak to that quiet place of solitude inside of us all.

This smart and sharp statement symbolizes and exemplifies the introspective and mesmerizing cosmic flight of this outstanding work. Recorded in 1987, reflects the serene profundity of this remarkable creator of atmospheres, the man and his legend: Mr. Keith Jarrett.

Dark intervals may be regarded as a huge suite for piano solo, with flaming passages of radiant intensity, pregnant of nocturnal visions and fascinating modulations. All of us know about the genius of Jarrett and this album particularly is one of my eternal favorite ones.

A genuine, colossal and transcendental masterpiece among his impressive discography.

Critics are good to review baseball games, not Keith Jarrett`s music :) "Dark Intervals" possess the tremendous power of attraction, probably Jarrett`s most depressive work. Yes, it isn`t the best, but how can we judge a genius? :)) Enjoy :)