Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette - My Foolish Heart

The 25th Anniversary

Jazz's greatest piano trio. This is the best way to describe the 25-year partnership between Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. They are an institution of jazz and My Foolish Heart is their 18th recording, all on ECM. The double album was recorded live at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2001 and is an exhilarating and playful performance which romps through the history of jazz as the trio plays pieces by Fats Waller, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Gerry Mulligan and more, as well as a scattering of show tunes and standards from the Great American Songbook. This album is - in terms of the musical range addressed - one of the most comprehensive in the discography of Jarrett, Peacock and DeJohnette. This fall, ECM is also releasing a speciallypriced 3-CD box set of the first recording session that the Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette ever made together. Setting Standards is a combined reissue of Standards Vol. I, Standards Vol. II and Changes, the three albums recorded in one session at New York's Power Station in 1983. The albums have been remastered in 24bit/192kHz and the box set will include new liner notes and archival photos. Album Description

IMPRESSIVE AND VIVID AS ALWAYS

Every live recording from this trio is a celebration and a must have .Not so strong like STILL LIVE but also an excellent and skillful live performance which deserves respect and serious listening attention .FIVE STARS FOR SURE . June 1, 2008

Look ma--both hands!

Much of the fuss about this album seems to concern Jarrett's revisiting of stride style on three numbers. Jarrett has never had a reputation as an underachiever, and no doubt he wishes to prove a point--not about stride piano (which as played by James P. Johnson, Fats Waller, Earl Hines, Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson is the most technically challenging idiom for jazz piano improvisation), but about his own eligibility to be considered on the same level as a select group of players. In the hands of the masters, the style requires two hands that can think independently, a left hand no less inventive and dexterous than the right, a left-handed finger stretch that can play and "walk" tenths at a brisk pace, an inerrant sense of placement while leaping two or more octaves for every other beat on tunes frequently played "allegro" rather than moderato, and the control to make it all cohere as an effortless, seamless whole.

If Jarrett has raised listeners' awareness and appreciation of well-played stride style, he deserves all the credit in the world. If he has impressed listeners with his versatility while simultaneously provoking dissatisfaction with a "dated," "ragtime" style, his accomplishment is less clear. Even though to my ears the pianist doesn't earn many style points for his stride piano playing, to the extent that he's willing to risk this treacherous idiom at all he deserves respect and plaudits. At the very least, he lays to rest the criticisms from some of his peers that he has a weak left hand.

A note on "ragtime": Since the word has been invoked by several reviewers, it should be noted that "ragtime" was primarily a composed "genre" (not style) of music that pre-dated both jazz and American popular song (1890-1905). No doubt Jarrett could handle the compositions of Scott Joplin et. al. if he chose to, but that's not what you're hearing on this recording. As for those who express displeasure about the pianist's continued attraction to the Sinatra repertory (i.e. the Great American Songbook), it's good to be reminded that Jarrett went there when, after the Koln Concert, he was being hailed as the father of "New Age" music and the school of George Winston, Yanni, Brickman, Tesh, etc. Just as he felt it was important then to make a point about structural integrity and the tradition, it's likely that some of the same motivation is behind his recent exploratory ventures into stride piano territory. One wonders, however, if he's aware that even Winston frequently includes in his concerts some Waller pieces played in stride style, in which case Keith might be influenced to venture down other musical paths. What's next? (Certainly he's heard Erroll Garner's head-spinning "Concert by the Sea.") May 21, 2008

KJ meets jazz roots, classic jazz trio music results

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. May 11, 2008

Pure Jarrett in every way

The music is unsurprisingly glorious, as most of what this trio has played over the past 25 or so years.
For Jarrett critics, probably the best quote in the history of Jarrett's self-indulgence, from the liner notes "I want to thank Gary and Jack for sharing the struggle for artistic survival in a world of fakery, thoughtlessness, mimicry, diffidence, apathy, unconsciousness, laziness, empty virtuosity, ignorance and self-deceit." Amen. March 7, 2008

Jarrett does it all

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
February 8, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...