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 highl... more »y 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.« less
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.
CD Reviews
Ah bremen - ah my song - ah standards vol I
Robert Wade Cottingham | Dallas, TX | 10/25/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"review of 3 CD TESTAMENT by Keith Jarrett, 2009
I have bought EVERY Keith Jarrett product since the first album.
Bremen Lausanne blew my mind. As I write, I'm watching/listening to Miles and Keith in Berlin in 1971 on an awesome video. I find I'm appreciating the Keith Jarrett of the early and mid 70's more than ever. And the Standards Trio peaked with 'Still Live', but all their recordings are terrific. ALL the recordings of the European quartet are unbelievable, classic. From "Bremen Lausanne" through say, "Still Live", buying and hearing each new recording was a big event for me. And those records STILL pin me to the wall !!!!
This new solo recording? I don't appreciate most of it. The slow, beautiful harmony pieces I appreciate. The bebop pieces, OK, skillful. But the vamp pieces and the atonal pieces I feel like I have heard before, but better, on earlier KJ solo concerts. To me, even though his liner notes are more understandable and human than ever before, his playing has NOT evolved as he describes, it has declined. Let me say it more accurately and less judgmentally: he's in such a classical phase now (I don't mean classical music, I mean a classical, conservative approach or aesthetic), that his romantic/expressionistic gifts (so evident in 70's and 80's) are QUITE hard to find! I could be wrong, and it doesn't matter what I think, his body of work blows away anybody.
In short, there are 10 or 15 KJ recordings I'd listen to before listening to this one again.
Not hating, just saying."
Solo jarrett at his best
Ivor E. Zetler | Sydney Australia | 10/07/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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."
From the Wilderness into the Light
Dr. Debra Jan Bibel | Oakland, CA USA | 10/08/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"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"
Evidence of his great artistry
Ian Muldoon | Coffs Harbour, NSW Australia | 10/27/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Testament" means, at the least, evidence, and Mr Jarrett's provides quite a chunk in this 3CD set that he is one of the great artists. We may remember a first encounter as I do in the Chinese Girl's School in Penang, Malaysia, in the 1960's when he performed as part of the Charles Lloyd Quartet on a USIS tour of the Far East. Then there is the first ECM encounter with FACING YOU and its startling black and white cover. Or we get stoned with KOLN in the background. Or twitch with disbelief at the SUN BEAR CONCERTS release. But as they say, that was then, this is now. Performing artists, and especially, improvising musicians, are at the creating cutting edge and what they do is in the moment. Mr Jarrett has been fortunate in having ECM whose owner Manfred Eicher accompanied him on this tour, as freedom to create and not marketing has always been the priority.
In the end, it's not about what has been, how potent the technique now is, how long or fast the pieces are, it;s about the music. And the music contained in these documents is a major musical statement which traverses in some ways Mr Jarrett's approach to the instrument of the years. The Paris concert is darker than the London but all the music is magnificent.
A bargain price too."
Intimate, but exhausting.
Timothy G. Niland | New Jersey, USA | 11/11/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"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."
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1