Customer Reviews

Standards in Norway

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

 

 

Yes, I give the reording the full star rating. The star ratings here at AMAZON tend to get a little crazy, but I can't possibly hold anything back for this one.

The standards trio is stunning here. The sound on this record is among the greatest of all their recordings, live from Oslo Konserthus (Concert Hall), so for any audiophile, this one is a must. As for all music fans, I would also like to say that this concert, to me, is one of the best, musically, waxed on record, in the more than 10-year lifespan of this band.

The tunes, standards, of course, are given their new life, just as one expects from Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. Among the most memorable are the versions of "All Of You" and "I Hear A Rhapsody", where there is so much love and joy the band is about to burst. The three gentlemen and incredible players are giving themselves totally to the music, swinging, in and out of the form, in a waving manner of conversation, elegant, fluent, strainless, simply beautiful. This is as good as trio music got in the last century!

Also, check out the 6CD box from the Blue Note, a gem for any fan of this group.

Jarrett's _Standards in Norway_ quite frankly blew my head off. It was one the first jazz albums that I owned, and in this sense was a realy introduction to modern jazz for me. The trio's sound is so textured; the listener feels as though he's actually sitting in the concert hall. Jarrett plays with a kind of frantic yet tempered emotion, the notes crescendoing up and down the keys.

What a wonderful album. I listen to it almost every day.

This is a live recording of Jarrett's "Standards Trio" (Keith Jarrett on piano, Gary Peacock on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums) that was made back in 1989 but for some reason was released several years later. Those who are familiar with this group will know what to expect, those who have not heard the group are in for a treat. Tasty, tasty stuff, played by three souls who have worked together closely and who really know how to support each other and let the composer shine through the improvisation. This is the piano trio elevated to the highest level of excellence.

What more can I add about Keith Jarret's music? He is a treasure. You will hear him singing along (and singing is not his forte!) but I have to believe that he has tried to eradicate that habit and was unable to. You simply have to remember that you are listening to one of our finest jazz pianists, and make the small effort to block out the distraction. His playing is heartfelt and beautiful.

Since the comparison is often made, it's instructive to compare Jarrett's "All of You" with Bill Evans' from the 1961 Vanguard Sessions. The former's is relatively straightforward and conservative--a clear statement of the theme, room for a bass solo, a piano solo, the 8-bar exchanges with the drummer and out; the latter's is by contrast at once revolutionary yet engaging, ceaselessly taunting the listener with the hint of a familiar theme whose title may not yet come to mind. Jarrett plays connected, logical and rhythmically consistent, "singing" lines (with occasional double-timing), his left hand a relatively unassertive, inactive participant; Evans, on the other hand, blocks chords during the melody of the theme (which is embedded as an inner voice and hence "disguised") and extends the two-handed chording through much of his solo. The force of the left hand matches the right, producing an improvisation that is as much about texture as a continuous melodic line. And when he does improvise with the right hand, its statements are as often in 4ths and 3rds as single-note lines. The phrasing is less suggestive of a singer than a painter, with unpredictable starts and stops (often on the "odd" measure) and brief strokes alternating with extended lines.

The element of tension and surprise extends from the pianist's solo to the way the piece unfolds, with LaFaro's bass at no time slipping into a walking four (during the 2nd take). The exchanges with Motian are asymmetrical--eight bars, 13 bars, sometimes in answer to the piano, other times to the bass. Finally, Bill brings it all together with satisfying and shining closure, doubling the melody in block chords yet still claiming it as his own as much as Cole Porter's--right to the end of the piece.

It's the difference between "performance" and "creation," or "expression" and "discovery." And despite the years separating these versions, any listener wary of the anticlimactic would be well advised to begin with the later of the two.

I picked this recording up relatively cheap, and probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise. Already owning a large number of the standards trio recordings, this one was not a high priority to own. But you can't get away from it these three musicians are one of the great Jazz trios. Its apparent as soon as the first track starts.

I have two favourite tracks from this album. 'Little Girl Blue' (Rodgers & Hart) is heart rending slow ballad played with impeccable taste and skill by the trio. If you've seen Jarrett perform his version of 'Over the Rainbow' you'll know just how good his ballad playing can be. On the other hand 'Love is a Many-Splendored Thing' (Fain/Webster) is an uptempo romp through what is normally a mid-tempo or even ballad tempo piece.

This was recorded in 1989 and the only reason I haven't given it five stars (it would have been four and half) is because there are so many other Standards Trio recordings you should buy ahead of this one. But there is nothing wrong with this one!