Customer Reviews

My Foolish Heart

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Complete disclosure - I am a huge Jarrett fan, and nearly own his entire catalog. With that being said, this is a GREAT trio concert. WOW! The three "ragtime" numbers - "Ain't Misbehavin,'" "Honeysuckle Rose," and "You Took Advantage of Me" are revelations. They sound completely rehearsed, but totally improvised, immediate and... PERFECT!

If you can get through the piano break in the first tune ("Four" by Miles) and not spontaneously break into a broad smile while your skin gets goosebumps, and your spirit actually levitates above the clouds, then you are a stronger man (or woman) than me! (The break is in the sample.) Don't judge the audio quality from the sample though - the audio quality on the disc is superb.

Greatest living piano trio - period.

Highest recommendation!

Keith Jarrett has a mile-deep back catalog that conjures the finest in jazz exploration, including a stockpile of Peacock and DeJohnette "standards trio" albums recorded live. So when a perfectionist like Jarrett calls this, his latest live trio record, the "most buoyant, swinging, melodic and dynamic," it had better be good.

Yes, this is great stuff. If the goal of the "standards trio" is to be an omnibus of jazz history within the compact format of acoustic piano, bass and drums, this is THE masterclass. Particularly evocative of the group's call to arms is the extended group of songs such as "Fats" Waller's 'Ain't Misbehaving" played in a ragtime idiom. It's great to hear this monster-machine of jazz improvisation batten down the hatches and kick into some disciplined swing. Remarkably, the effect isn't one of campy nostalgia. They keep it interesting.

As for the rest of the set, the interplay between the three veterans is deep and verdant. In the liner notes, Jarrett says all three members know they are playing with masters. That's quite a pat on the back. But in this case it's deserved.

This is a Keith Jarrett purchase that's almost as essential as his great solo-piano talisman "the Koln concert." A+

Although Jarrett's liner notes indicate that this performance took place under somewhat difficult circumstances (technical problems, excessive heat, and an audience that didn't seem fully engaged until well into the concert), one wouldn't have guessed it from the recording; the music sounds great from the opening number, and from the second track on all three musicians are very near the top of their game. The result is an album that ranks with the best this excellent group has released, and the extensive and varied selection of tunes provides a nice overview of many of the trio's strengths. (The notable exception is that this album doesn't include a fully improvised piece, like the title tracks on "The Cure" and "Up for It.") Those who are already admirers of the "standards trio" will definitely find this a worthwhile purchase, and for fans of mainstream jazz who are not yet familiar with the group (assuming there are any!), this would be an ideal place to start.

I've heard them live and own most of the recordings. This is the best i've ever heard these 3 perform together. They are 'on' on this one, all of them. The 3 uptempo 'playful' arrangments of the ragtime numbers are refreshing like lemonade on a hot August afternoon. Keith's interpretation of the sad but beautiful Only the Lonely will break your heart and raise the hair on your arms at the same time. ECM's recording quality is very fine, almost SACD-like. Whatever gear they are using, it is the best i've heard in quite a while. Keith sparkles on my Thiel speakers. Time to play it again!

It's unfortunate but sometimes I am inspired to write a review for the wrong reason. The right reason would be the product in question (in this the case, "Keith Jarrett/ Live at Montreux"). But as has been the case before, I am driven to write a review because of someone's else's review(s). Some reviewers have flippantly criticized stride piano playing and Jarrett's choice to include the Fats Waller tribute of sorts on this CD, someone actually went as far as to call it wedding music!?? (this is got to be the most absurd comment of them all, unless you include when he mentions his mother). Firstly, the fact that stride piano isn't in style anymore is irrelevant. I love stride piano and always have (Fats Waller in particular). As a professional pianist, I can attest to the extreme technical difficulties involved in playing good stride piano. It requires strength, endurance, and impeccable time. Not to mention, when it's done well, it swings like mad. Jarrett does an admirable job made all the more interesting by the fact that this is a real departure for him. I am mostly familiar with his trio things and I haven't heard him ever approach a standard like this (with the exception of "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" from the "Whisper Not" disc which isn't on a level with the three stride like numbers from this disc). Of course stride piano is usually performed solo but there are a fair amount of Tatum and Waller tracks that were recorded with a group. Jarrett's trio really does put their own spin on this and it swings. Just ignore the aforementioned reviewers. They are doing anyone that might purchase this cd a disservice.

The rest of the CD is also excellent. Only complaint from me would be the sound. A little boomy at times, and occasionally the bass gets lost. In addition, the drums sound a little unbalanced. One drum (can't tell which one) sounds particularly loud in comparison to everything else. The "Still Live" CD (also by Jarrett) is plagued by similar recording issues, so much so that it is at times unlistenable (not to mention musically inferior). "My Foolish Heart" shares the same problem in regards to the sound although it's not nearly as much as an issue here. Aside from that, this CD is still highly recommended. I don't think I've ever heard these guys swing harder than they do on "Oleo", "The Song is You" and "Four" in particular (although the version of "I love You" from the "Out of Towners" CD is also just as amazing). Also, "Only the Lonely" is gorgeous. On a level with Sinatra's version.

Again, try to ignore the negative reviews here. They are written by people who are either deaf, or just ignorant (and that includes their mothers). It's like Ive always said,- "that's the problem with an opinion, anyone can have one"

Well thats another Standards Trio album I've had to buy. I've already got at least a dozen CD's of this Trio, including the monumental Live at the Blue Note boxed set. Why did I have to buy this? Because Jarrett plays three stride style pieces on this double album. He's hinted at this style before with the standards trio on 'Wrap your Troubles in Dreams' (from Whisper Not) and completely pulverised the style on 'Old Rag' (from Somewhere Before).

Not surprisingly his performances of the stride style here are very good. The pick of the bunch is Ain't Misbehavin' which has some inspired solos, using harmonies that Fats Waller certainly wouldn't have played, and exchanging short solos with JJ near the end. Unlike the previous reviewers I did not find these tracks reminding me of Woody Allen films or find Jack DeJohnette's drumming at all out of place. I suppose it depends on what you are used to. I was brought up listening to stride Piano, and although it isn't the style I listen to most of the time, its great to hear it played by a modern Jazz great like Keith Jarrett.

So what about if you hate stride Piano? Well the remaining ten tracks are up to the usual impeccable standard. A great mixture of ballads and standards that the Trio play with great panache.

The only problem with this Trio is the huge volume of material that has been released over the last 20+ years. However when I heard 'On Green Dolphin Street' from this album I knew I had to give it five stars. I already have a previous version of this by the standards trio (in the Blue Note boxed set) which I have played and played so I thought I might find this new version a bit to samey. Not a chance; Jarrett genuinely tries to improvise on every performance. So yes a few patterns are the same but apart from the tune this is another completely unique performance of the same tune!

Overall 9/10

This stuff must really come easy for Keith. The pianist known for his improvisations and thematic interludes of solo piano virtuosity in the jazz mode hooks up again with two of the most solid jazz musicians in the business today, and some wonderful takes on classic jazz tunes are digitized for the enjoyment of present and future jazz enthusiasts for years to come. Jarrett fans probably can't live without this recording, as it features some really wonderful playing and the usual complex and exciting solo work that Jarrett has become known for over the years. But having to work within the rhythm box created by DeJohnette and Peacock, KJ is kept more focused than when he plays by himself, and personally, I find the result much more satisfying. I'm also a sucker for standards and show tunes, so I really appreciate their cleverly stylistic renditions of songs like Ain't Misbehavin', You Took Advantage of Me, and Honeysuckle Rose. I can only give this four stars because, as good as Jarrett is, he will always be Keith Jarrett, which means, he will always be making those irritating "chicken-being-stepped-on" noises during his performance. When he's close to the rhythm and melody, it isn't so bad, but sometimes he just screeches, and I find that annoying. That is, however, a minor quibble. I find it hard to believe this didn't even merit a listing in The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings: Eighth Edition (Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings), as I think it is at least as good as the CD in their core collection, The Köln Concert. I would say anybody who is thinking about buying this CD shouldn't hesitate any more. I think the familiar tunes also make this a good choice for non-jazz enthusiasts looking to broaden their music collection.

The problem here is not that Jarrett or his trio are lacking any of the talent or fire that have become synonomous with the Standards Trio. With recordings such as Inside Out, the trio focused on free/avant garde pieces whereas the 3 Standards CDs were just that but with the trio's cutting edge interpretations of familiar and not-so-familiar pieces. My Foolish Heart is inconsistent in style and performance quality with DeJohnette uncharacteristically disrupting a number of pieces as though he were completely out of sync with Peacock and Jarrett. It is a major distraction that could have been remedied by making this a one-disc collection. As for the Jarrett take on Fats Waller, it may be the kind of thing that makes Ken Burns weepy but as a nostalgic tribute it contributes little to the repetoire of these musicians. There's a good reason that stride piano is no longer in style.

The most recent issue of Jazziz devotes an entire article to what appears to be Jarrett's increasing difficulty in dealing directly with his audience. the focus is on a preemtive attack on a Milan audience before the trio had even hit the stage. Jarrett's four-letter tirade/warning about flash photography culminated in the crowd ending the session with a barrage of flash pictures. Jarrett seems to be deliberatly alienating himself from the listner both in-person and on disc. his otherwise brilliant Carnegie Hall solo recording was greatly distorted by the choice to leave in excessive applause; on some songs exceeding 5 minutes. Genius that he is, Keith Jarrett is getting to be a tiresome phenom.

There is some fine material on this double-CD live recording by the Keith Jarrett / Gary Peacock / Jack DeJohnette Standards trio from the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2001. The title track is the best: a lovely rendering, and What's New is superbly done; it's always nice to hear Five Brothers, too, though this version is less impressive than the trio's performance of the tune on The Out of Towners CD.

But there's too much that isn't so good: a very routine performance of Four and a strangely unattractive rendering of Straight, No Chaser, for example. The version here of Oleo is a bit on the dull side, too.

But the really big disappointment here is the sequence Ain't Misbehavin' / Honeysuckle Rose / You Took Advantage Of Me. Jarrett's playing on these three tunes is terrific, and it's lovely to hear him playing in the style of Fats Waller. However, these three are utterly ruined for me by some crass drumming by Jack DeJohnette. He's normally so subtle - a really musical drummer, if you can imagine the contradiction (joke!) and I have tremendous admiration for the way he normally works within the trio - but here he uses his bass drum in a clunkingly awful way, banging down on each beat and destroying the rhythmic subtleties in Jarrett and Peacock's playing. It makes these three tracks completely unlistenable to for me. If only there were some way of filtering out the banging so that we were left with Jarrett and Peacock's contributions alone!

So, overall rather a disappointment, I think - and I'm a huge fan of this trio and of Jarrett in particular. I'd really have rated it at two and a half stars but for Amazon's rather inflexible system.

I love this album. I have several Keith Jarrett albums and while I have always admired his technical abilities, a lot of his solos just didn't really move me. Not so on this album. The playing and soloing are amazing, absolutely beautiful on every cut. In particular, I was amazed how he took some old stride piano songs and made them sound modern, swinging hip and new again while still playing in the stride style. But the best part of the album for me is the ballad playing. I dont believe there is a better jazz ballad player in jazz history. His playing on "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" is beautiful, tender, open, gives the music room to breathe and moving. To my ears, this is Keith at his best, certainly for his more accessible recordings. Some other albums may be more avant garde or adventurous, after all this is a record of standards and not original improvizations, but none have been as much of a pleasure to listen to for me. Very highly recommended for jazz piano fans.