Paris / London: Testament

Keith Jarrett | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 6, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: Ecm Records
• ASIN: B002JVHELG
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #35,005 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

Since Heidelberg, Germany in the early 70's I have done improvised piano solo concerts. It all started, however, back when I was a six or seven-year-old so-called "child prodigy," studying and playing classical recitals for the Allentown Pa. Women's Club, etc. The programs would usually include masters such as Mozart or Schubert, Chopin or Debussy, but would also include something I "wrote." But this "writing" wasn't executed at all the same each time. Almost nothing was written down on paper. There were motifs and melodies that remained the same, but then around these were "takeoffs" in the same mood. The pieces were almost always "program" music. There was "Jungle Suite," for example. When I would be practicing at home, I would often change the notes of some composer, and my mother would catch this at times. I told her not to worry: I would play it as written at the concert. Heidelberg was a university town and had a jazz festival. I started my part of the evening by playing a tune, but somehow did not stop. Instead, I connected the tune to the next one by continuing on some sort of journey or transition to it. So, by the end of the set, I hadn't stopped playing. I was then married to my first wife, Margot. Over the years since then, solo piano concerts became more "abstract" and somehow they would grow from small seeds planted spontaneously at the beginning. But they still lasted the entire 45 minutes or so, then a break, then another 45 minutes. They were kind of epic journeys into the unknown. The architecture, however, over many years, became too predictable to me, and I stopped doing so many of these and concentrated on my quartets and writing. After my divorce from Margot, I lived for 30 years with my second wife, Rose Anne. I attempted several times to re-invent the solo concerts, but among other things was laid low for about two years with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The amount of energy these concerts took was always amazing to me. It was like the Olympics each time. So there was a certain off-and-on quality to my scheduling them. While many incredibly good concerts came about, some were not recorded. In the early part of this decade, I tried to bring the format back: starting from nothing and building a universe. But somehow, while practicing in my studio, I realized that much of what I was playing was stuff I had liked before, but actively did not like now. Whenever I would play something that was from the past and sounded mechanical, I would stop. This led me to try to include this starting and stopping in solo concerts in Japan. The music from this particular first attempt was to become "Radiance." I continued to find a wealth of music inside this open format, stopping whenever the music told me to, and eventually released "The Carnegie Hall Concert" in 2006. Although I seemed to others to be some kind of freak of nature, the amount of preparation work, mental, physical, and emotional is probably beyond anybody's imagination (including my own). It is NOT natural to sit at a piano, bring no material, clear your mind completely of musical ideas, and play something that is of lasting value and brand new (not to mention that these are live concerts, and the audience's role was of utmost chemical importance: they could change the potential and shape of the music easier than the difference of pianos or hall sound). I then did a series of solo concerts in Japan in the spring of 2008 that seemed to hit a technical high-note in the history of my solo events. I wasn't sure what could possibly happen next after these concerts. Then my wife left me (this was the third time in four years). I quickly scrambled to stay alive (music had been my life for 60 years) by setting up a Carnegie Hall Concert (a leaflet inserted into the program for my 25th Anniversary trio concert there in October 2008 advertised a solo concert in late January 2009), but before I did that concert, Steve Cloud managed to quickly come up with two solo concerts in Europe: Paris and London. I had not played solo in London for, I believe, 18 years. These were the first solo events since my wife had left. I was in an incredibly vulnerable emotional state, but I admit to wondering whether this might not be a "good" thing for the music. It truly didn't matter; I had to do them. Everything was put together in a dizzyingly short time. I had to find help for packing and touring (I had lots of physical ailments that prevented me from being pro-active on the physical fronts, plus stress, plus an emptiness that was overwhelming, etc.). I decided that if I backed down now, I would back down forever. I used to tell my piano students, "If you're going to play, play like it's the last time." It was not theoretical advice anymore; this was real. This was either going to achieve my survival or hasten my demise. I had no idea how much energy I would have, though I prepared well (but all along I never remembered just how much it took to do these concerts). Startlingly, Paris was an achievement I never expected. Manfred Eicher and the rest of my touring ensemble (minus one) were backstage eating dinner. It started then to be clear to me that I had a new chance at something, that nothing would stop me if only I stayed awake to the possibilities, both musical and personal. Many of the people I knew seemed to feel they were just meeting me. I was in tears going on and offstage for bows. On the way into London, I had as close a brush with a nervous breakdown as I've had. Christmas shoppers were all out holding hands; the place was way too colorful for my mood. I was exhausted from Paris (only two days had gone by) and stuck in an unmoving traffic jam in the middle of London in a car without my wife, looking out the window at couples, Christmas lights, and seemingly-normal unbounded joy. I couldn't handle it. When we finally got to the room I closed all the curtains (they also looked out at lit-up Christmas trees) and tried breathing normally. Two days later we drove to the hall (the limo driver was on my side, he perked up my spirits), I checked the piano, went backstage to see what we had for dinner, was introduced to the catering lady, who was as sharp as anyone around and had just lost her lover after some time together. I said I couldn't help thinking about my wife, and she quietly (but firmly) pointed to a blank, white wall. We shot short, pointed one-liners back and forth during dinner, and I realized all these people, unwittingly, were helping me get myself together. The concert went on and, though the beginning was a dark, searching, multi-tonal melodic triumph, by the end it somehow became a throbbing, never-to-be-repeated, pulsing rock band of a concert (unless it was a church service, in which case, Hallelujah!). I needed heat therapy on my arms afterwards (first time ever). Even the people backstage as I came off in tears again were giving off the exactly right thing. Communication is all. Being is all. People are deep, serious creatures with little to hang on to. So, loss may be a big thing, but what remains becomes even more important than ever. Just never let go of the thread. And be honest with yourself. A writer I greatly admire and with whom I was just recently in touch, echoed some of my words to her when she wrote back to me: "How fragile and serendipitous things are indeed, unbearably so."

Keith Jarrett

Product Description

This is a specially-packaged, specially-priced three CD set. Improvised, solo music from the great American pianist, recorded at two concerts that took place at the end of last year. In his liner notes, Keith gives a highly personal account of the music s inspirational genesis, which is outstanding, even by his own high standards, with powerful emotions never far from the music s surface. These are recordings to put alongside the very finest in Jarrett s solo idiom. The open format, embracing much music in shorter episodes, follows a pattern similar to that found on Radiance, but there are also flashes of the existential poetic flair which made, for instance, the Sun Bear Concerts such a special musical experience. The release of Testament coincides with the 40th anniversary of the ECM label.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars solo jarrett at his best October 6, 2009

By Ivor E. Zetler

Format:Audio CD

My first exposure to Keith Jarret's solo pianistic magic was at an unforgettable London concert in the late seventies. I have been a loyal fan ever since and have enthusiastically followed his progress through his various jazz and classical explorations.

I presume that most readers would be familiar with Jarrett's solo jazz performances. Here we have the usual combination of abstract, sometimes difficult music, together with more lyrical numbers. I must admit to preferring the latter (my favorite album being The Melody At Night, With You) and am pleased to report that there is a generous amount of achingly tuneful and soulful pianism to be encountered. This is to be found throughout both concerts but particularly in the second part of the London concert. Jarrett is not an artist to let the listener off easily; sometimes I feel that the songful parts are a reward for sharing the more difficult journeys!

In the booklet notes, Jarrett writes frankly of the personal crisis that he was experiencing at the time of the London and Paris concerts. He intimates that these traumatic circumstances spurred him to produce something special out of this adversity. My impression is that the standard of these events is equal to very good, but not extraordinary solo Jarrett.

The Paris concert (or part thereof?)runs for around 70 minutes; the London event lasts just over 100 minutes. The sound is up to the usual excellent ECM standard and the 3 discs are compactly enclosed in cardboard sleeves. This set should be an obligatory purchase for all Keith Jarrett fans.

30 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Wilderness into the Light October 8, 2009

By Dr. Debra Jan Bibel TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Having been a fan of Keith Jarrett since his early journeyman jazz days, his solo and trio explorations have always been of interest, although some recent recordings have left me wincing. The joy and extroverted romance of his popular solo concerts of Köln, Tokyo, Paris, and La Scala had turned to long series of brief, darker and edgier, introspective free jazz and classical-like statements in Radiance and The Carnegie Hall Concert. In this three-CD package of Testament, Jarrett increasingly exits the Mahlerian wilderness to find some sweetness or some jazzy fun. From his deeper ramblings emerge extraordinary lyricism, impressionistic and nostalgic (Disc I, track 3), only to return to the rapid note din of Chaos in the next track, awaiting the Muse of changing moods, such as a staccato blues (I:6), or a song of longing and remembrance (I:7), or a passionate meditation (II:1), or a nervous rhythmic study of urban modernity (II:2). However fine was the Parisian Testament, the London recordings are even stronger, sometimes more classical in form, sometimes steeped in traditional jazz. Jarrett seems to be more relaxed, with a greater liveliness and creativity. Moreover, Jarrett in London relies less on those irritating, amorphous, noisy baseline beginnings of Paris and earlier recordings (though they, alas, do occur). Jarrett's solo journeys are as frank and apparent as his narration of his troubled marital situations. The drama of his short pieces engage us; he is a powerful artist of the keyboard and each section is a new emotional scene in the unfolding Act. These recordings are significant, mature milestones in Jarrett's long career. **** 1/2

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Intimate, but exhausting. November 11, 2009

By Timothy G. Niland VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

For the past twenty or so years, pianist Keith Jarrett has alternated between extemporaneous solo performances and trio recordings with his longtime bandmates Gary Peacock and Jack JeJohnette. This three disc collection is a recording of two long solo performances recorded live in Europe. It is a fascinating, if exhausting listening experience with Jarrett moving from gentle melodic improvisations to abstract, at times dissonant sections. He has stated in the past the he is merely the conduit for the music and that sense is continued here with the music flowing onward like a river, broken only by lengthy stretches of buoyant applause. It must be said that Jarrett never takes the easy way out as a solo performer, he demands a lot from himself and the audience. Using the length and breadth of the keyboard he crafts elaborate stories with the piano. If you are a fan of the Jarrett solo canon, you will most certainly like this album, but newcomers are probably better served with The Koln Concert album as a starting point.