|
Disc 1:
Disc 2:
|
| ||||||||||||||||||
Listen to Samples and Buy MP3s
Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s. Click on "Buy MP3" or
view the MP3 Album.
Special Offers and Product Promotions
- Get $1 in Amazon MP3 credit with qualifying purchase. Limited to one promotional credit per customer. Here's how (restrictions apply)
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Editorial Reviews
From the Artist
40 years ago this year Keith Jarrett recorded his first ECM disc, the ground-breaking, solo piano Facing You. He has refined his approach to solo music many times since then, always finding new things to play. So it is here, in this engaging solo recording from Brazil. This specially-priced double album from Rio de Janeiro's is, Keith Jarrett feels, one of his best: "beautifully structured, jazzy, serious, sweet, playful, warm, economical, energetic, passionate, and connected with the Brazilian culture in a unique way. The sound in the hall was excellent and so was the enthusiastic audience."
Product Description
On April 9, 2011 Keith Jarrett returned to South America for the first time in decades to perform three solo concerts. The third and final concert found him in Rio de Janeiro in front of a packed house and enthralled audience. Inspired by the electrifying atmosphere, the pianist pulls a broad range of material from the ether: thoughtful/reflective pieces, abstract sound-structures, pieces that fairly vibrate with energy. The double album climaxes with a marvelous sequence of encores. 40 years ago this year Keith Jarrett recorded his first ECM disc, the ground-breaking, solo piano Facing You. He has refined his approach to solo music many times since then, always finding new things to play. So it is here, in this engaging solo recording from Brazil.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
70 of 72 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I've had trepidations about Jarrett for years. Yes, he's a prodigy with an amazing "touch" but also at times, a raging egomaniac. The Standards trio became boring and Carnegie Hall (which I attended) was technically brilliant but a bit bloodless. This is simply his best recording in decades. The key to this "turnaround" is threefold: first, shorter pieces, so no long vamping as he seeks new themes, melodies, approaches while improvising solo; secondly, choice of material which runs the gamut from reflective and abstract pieces to South African township melodies and even R&B lines, and lastly; a minimum of vocalese/grunting which often mars his performances. Dont know if it was just a night that everything clicked, closure from his divorce, a sense of where he is in his career but as John Fordham wrote in the Guardian, this is a true return to form.
42 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I am a big fan of Keith Jarrett; I've seen him live on three occasions and probably own about 30 of his albums. When "Rio" was announced, a lot of superlatives were thrown out there - Jarrett himself apparently called his producer from the airport right after the concert to make sure the release would have top priority. I assume it was all the advance praise that got me a little too excited and then somewhat disappointed when the CDs finally arrived. Let me be clear: to anyone not well acquainted with Jarrett's music, this must be a wonderful concert, which certainly compares favorably to the vast majority of improvised solo piano performances by other artists. In my opinion, however, it is not fundamentally different from, or better than, some of Jarrett's other recent recordings (like Carnegie Hall or Paris/London). Part XI, for instance, is certainly an enjoyable blues, but it once again uses the baseline we already know from the 1988 Paris Concert and the 2005 Carnegie Hall Concert. To me personally, the recent releases just do not compare to the earlier concerts. It was performances like Lausanne, Bremen (clearly my personal favorite), Köln, the Sun Bear Concerts in Japan, Paris or Vienna, that leave you sitting there with goose bumps and tears in your eyes, wondering how a human brain (and the pair of hands directed by it) can spontaneously generate music of such intensity and complexity.
I would like to emphasize again, however, that I bought this CD with very high expectations, so it may not be a surprise that these expectations were not quite met. I would definitely recommend "Rio" to anyone who loves solo piano. However, if you had never heard of Keith Jarrett before and asked me to introduce you to his most astonishing performances, "Rio" would not be among them; instead, I'd give you a collection of some of the concerts mentioned earlier - those would blow you away.
I would like to emphasize again, however, that I bought this CD with very high expectations, so it may not be a surprise that these expectations were not quite met. I would definitely recommend "Rio" to anyone who loves solo piano. However, if you had never heard of Keith Jarrett before and asked me to introduce you to his most astonishing performances, "Rio" would not be among them; instead, I'd give you a collection of some of the concerts mentioned earlier - those would blow you away.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Rio de Janeiro, and Brazil at large, has long been appreciated for its wide variety of music -- samba, bossa nova, choro, forró, African spiritual, Latin jazz, and American- and European-influenced popular -- that seem to pervade its atmosphere. This 2-disc album of Keith Jarrett in solo improvisations performed before an audience in Rio seems appropriate to the musical spirit of this vibrant city. Indeed, the recordings are his best solo studies in decades, and we are delighted that he has regained the lyricism and joy of earlier times. One new distinction over recent albums is the happy near absence of the random din of keys at the beginning as he vamped for inspiration from some cluster of notes. Instead, he plunges in directly and allows the adventure to dictate the course.
The first track, for instance, is full of jagged kinetic energy and closes with a touch of playful wit. This is followed by a slow thoughtful melancholia. The third track is strong in traditional jazz form whose several themes give the etude romance and cheer. Part IV, an urbane ballad in mood and development, is a 4-minute gem. The next piece propels forward as a lively soul anthem. The last track on the 39-minute first disc has a flavor of Spain, a bolero with tinges of flamenco and the bullring. The second disc of 51 minutes consists of 9 tracks, which also vary in style. It opens with a very romantic ballad. Part VIII is another song, this one allegro and joyful. A sea of high arpeggios leads the next track; its sweet gossamer development has a Chinese mode and a pastoral mood. The aforementioned noisy vamp does return with Part X, although there is a musical core that seems to spin out flares. The ensuing brief boogie-woogie blues allows us to exhale and smile as we are again in familiar territory. The final four pieces -- a quasi-classical chordal diversion; a serious song full of passion and regret; an uplifting R&B hymn; and a tremolo-driven sentimental farewell -- complete the outstanding concert. The musical miasma of Rio was good for Jarrett, and now this album, truly a major opus and milestone for him ranking with the fabled Köln Concert, is good for us.
The first track, for instance, is full of jagged kinetic energy and closes with a touch of playful wit. This is followed by a slow thoughtful melancholia. The third track is strong in traditional jazz form whose several themes give the etude romance and cheer. Part IV, an urbane ballad in mood and development, is a 4-minute gem. The next piece propels forward as a lively soul anthem. The last track on the 39-minute first disc has a flavor of Spain, a bolero with tinges of flamenco and the bullring. The second disc of 51 minutes consists of 9 tracks, which also vary in style. It opens with a very romantic ballad. Part VIII is another song, this one allegro and joyful. A sea of high arpeggios leads the next track; its sweet gossamer development has a Chinese mode and a pastoral mood. The aforementioned noisy vamp does return with Part X, although there is a musical core that seems to spin out flares. The ensuing brief boogie-woogie blues allows us to exhale and smile as we are again in familiar territory. The final four pieces -- a quasi-classical chordal diversion; a serious song full of passion and regret; an uplifting R&B hymn; and a tremolo-driven sentimental farewell -- complete the outstanding concert. The musical miasma of Rio was good for Jarrett, and now this album, truly a major opus and milestone for him ranking with the fabled Köln Concert, is good for us.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Somewhat short
Add it up and there is a total of a little over 88 minutes of playing time on TWO CD's, and of that 88 minutes, there's a lot of applause. Read more
Published 2 months ago by R. Petersen
Keith's biggest fan... but
I've been a fan of Keith Jarrett's since his his very first solo album, Facing You. I had heard so many good things about Rio that I instantly ordered it when it came out. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Jim
Saudades atmosphere prevails here
Keith rambles on the back street in Rio after the carnival season. He is searching something he left behind. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mikio Miyaki
Certainly Not One of His Best
Keith's new piano solo album, Rio, is one of the worst albums he has put out. There is no continuing theme among the pieces and they are uninspired. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Trooper Al
rio
i dont have receipt the order that i have made in this on-line enterprise therefore i couldnt write a review!
Published 3 months ago by avani m da ccosta
A Little Bit More Relaxed
For those people who have followed Keith Jarrett's solo piano career, they know that in the 1970s Keith Jarrett became famous subsequent to the release of the Köln Concerts. Read more
Published 3 months ago by jurgfella
Blah
Amazed that Mr. Jarrett continues to get such high praise for such boring, major-chord-obvious, meandering noodling. Plus some strange atonal numbers without significance. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Barabbas Crowley
too much applause
Well the first disk is just ok. The 2nd disk is really good. BUT- I can't listen to it. I just hate the applause at the end of each track. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Paul Albert
Renaissance Journey
Confession, I've been listening to this CD for over 2 months, out of neccessity. I'm a slow listener and I tend to get taken in by initial hype and subsequent backlash. Is it good? Read more
Published 4 months ago by Geoff
Great Album, Not His Best, but Top 5
This is a great album. If you're new to Keith Jarrett this would be a great one to start with, and if you're a Keith Jarrett fan, you won't be disappointed. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Bret A. Padilla
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
So You'd Like to...
|
|
