Eyes Of The Heart

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Keith Jarrett -- Eyes Of The Heart Concert recording, May 1976, theater am Kornmarkt, Bergenz, Austria Release date: 1979, ECM Records Keith Jarrett, either with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian (another legendary figure whose pioneering work as a band leader shows no signs of letting up), or in quartet form with the addition of saxophonist Dewey Redman, made several excellent albums for the American labels Atlantic and Impulse, including Birth, Shade, Mysterie, Treasure Island, Death and the Flower, and the highlight of this list, Fort Yawuh, recorded live at the Village Vanguard. Fort Yaweh represents a brilliant and sustained burst of energy, a kind of concentrated raucousness in some part, that’s almost impossible to resist. But three albums released by Jarrett’s true champion, the German label ECM, are the ones that have absolutely survived the test of time. The Survivors’ Suite, a 48-minute long composition by Jarrett for the quartet, released in 1977, combines traditional jazz and free jazz with the kind of folk and world music sounds Jarrett later pursued in the 1980s with his album Spirit, and remains a unique, vibrant listening experience. Eyes of the Heart, a live recording of the quartet released in 1979, owes its existence to this long composition. At a concert in Bergenz, Austria, in 1976, the four were playing it when Redman left the stage (according to Ian Carr’s Keith Jarrett, The Man and His Music, Redman later told Jarrett that he went to get a glass of wine), and didn’t return when it was time to make his entrance back into the piece). Suddenly, Jarrett, Haden and Motian were in no man’s land, and the result is a 42-minute long improvisation (roughly the length, as it turned out, of one of Jarrett’s patented solo improvisations). It’s a thrilling ride. Jarrett fills the space with the some soulful soprano sax riffs before returning to the piano and finding a theme, while Haden and Motian instinctively provide the pulse that keeps Jarrett’s ideas from turning static. Then the rhythm section fade, and for a few minute, Jarrett offers up one of his best hymn-like solo performance, softening and expanding everything that’s been established, before finding the groove again that drive, it seem, Dewey and his tenor sax back on stage. And Dewey improvises as if he’s been listening in the wings the whole time and building up momentum (maybe a few or more sips of wine helped!). Carr’s biography also reveals that Jarrett himself can’t listen to the album, as it’s difficult for him to revisit such a bizarre, tension-filled situation. And yet it’s easy to imagine that at some point in that experience, Jarrett, one of the world’s foremost advocates for improvisation, said to himself, “Well, you didn’t expect this in this situation, but having no expectations is what you want, so go with it and make it work.” Lineup Keith Jarrett -- piano, soprano saxophone, osi drum, tambourine Dewey Redman -- tenor saxophone, tambourine, maracas Charlie Haden -- bass Paul Motian -- drum, percussion .

via Last.fm

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