Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Kyoto, November 5, 1976, Pt. 1
2. Kyoto, November 5, 1976, Pt. 2

Disc 2:

1. Osaka November 8, 1976, Pt. 1
2. Osaka November 8, 1976, Pt. 2

Disc 3:

1. November 12, 1976, Pt. 1
2. November 12, 1976, Pt. 2

Disc 4:

1. November 14, 1976, Pt. 1
2. November 14, 1976, Pt. 2

Disc 5:

1. November 18, 1976, Pt. 1
2. November 18, 1976, Pt. 2

Disc 6:

1. Encores: Sapporo
2. Encores: Tokyo
3. Encores: Nagoya

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24580 in Music
• Released on: 2000-09-12
• Number of discs: 6
• Formats: Box set, Live, Original recording reissued
• Dimensions: 1.39 pounds

Customer Reviews

A Fabulous Collection
I think it was Patrick Moraz who called himself "an unconditional fan" of Keith Jarrett's music. Jarrett has certainly taken his listeners on an unconventional ride over the years, from more or less traditional jazz (albeit more masterfully realized than any vitually anyone else's) to straight classical interpretations, to avant-garde experimentation, with many, many stops in between. But it is as a solo piano improviser, alone on the stage, producing awe-inspiring suites of music in a spontaneous, unprepared explosion of creativity, for which Jarrett is most famous. His KOLN CONCERT and SOLO CONCERTS were seminal 70's jazz recordings, and remain timelessly popular today.

This recording, SUN BEAR CONCERTS, represents Keith at the height of his solo powers. An enormous 10-LP set, (now 6 CDs) this album sold for the unheard of [price] when it was released...and remained on the charts for months. While it was hailed as the work of genius in many circles, it also raised a few critics' eyebrows by reason of its sheer size, leading to accusations of ego-tripping. Jarrett claims that he and ECM founder Manfred Eicher came to the conclusion that the music worked best as a coordinated whole, and this released the entire package rather than mere excerpts. To me, it shows a great deal of courage to produce a collection that they knew would have limited commercial appeal because of its size and cost, out of conviction that the music would speak for itself.

It does, magnificently. This piece is truly an organic whole, with each concert contributing to the collective work in a way never surpassed in Jarrett's career. For anyone who is familiar with Keith through his shorter solo works, this album will produce immediate and lasting dividends. For the uninitiated this may be an acquired taste, but once it is fully understood, SUN BEAR CONCERTS will provide a lifetime of musical excitement and inspiration...

One of the most beautiful collections of music ever recorded
If you are a newcomer to Jarrett's solo work, you should probably start with Koln or Paris concert, Staircase or Moth and the Flame. While all of his solo piano music is worth experiencing, I thinkthe Sun Bear concerts reveal Jarrett's creation (revelation) process in its most pure, organic, and human form. Each concert is a building process; he's constructing worlds with sound ("think of your ears as eyes"), not just running through the scales like so many players do. And the worlds are sometimes raw and ferocious, sometimes hypnotic, and they sometimes ache with longing. It will take time to "get" this music, but once you do, the way you "see" music will be changed. Kyoto, Osaka, and the second Encore in themselves are worth the price of admission. A number of reviewers here and elsewhere have said stuff like "you have to wade through some noodling by Jarrett in a number of the pieces before he stumbles on a winning idea" but these folk have not fully got the music I'm afraid. There is really no "noodling" here. To think otherwise is to blindly hold a view of what the terrain of these worlds should look like before they have even been explored. Jarrett's one of the best and this is certainly one of his most magical outings.

Don't hesitate - Jarrett's best recordings next to Koln.
The level of talent exhibited on these discs is dismaying to the would-be craftsmen in the art of piano improv like myself. Keith Jarrett is one in a million and this is some of his best stuff.

I can't really pick a favourite since every concert has its own allure for me and every track is indeed utterly unique - you wouldn't mistake one for another. I can immediately identify which concert I'm hearing after listening to just a short passage. There's no interchangable music here. I like what one of the reviewers said about Jarrett "constructing worlds with sound". That was a very apt metaphor. I think of each of these concerts as worlds of their own, or different universes, each with its own physical laws. (Incidentally, I first listened to these pieces as I "constructed worlds" almost literally, on my computer using Vistapro 4.0, a 3D rendering program, so the metaphor has a personal significance for me. I gave each landscape the name of one of the cities where Jarrett performs in this set.)

Some highlights (for me) include the forcefully melancholic ending of Osaka Part 1, the grand theme that emerges startlingly in the late second half of Nagoya which is developed with amazing extemporaneous virtuosity, and the revelatory recapitulation at the near-end of the Kyoto concert.

I, for one, really like the atonal elements (frequently heard as the opening to the second section of each concert) not just as 'part of the journey', but in and of themselves. Just as there can be no day without night, there can be no tonal music without atonal and the episodes provide a spice to each improv, a welcome contrast to the more harmonically conventional structure of most of the first movements. It's never senseless key-pounding, there's always a rhyme and reason. A good example is the second movement of Osaka - a firmly tonal, dancy type of music quickly dissolves into a manic, chaotic atonal episode which in turn evolves into mysterious arpeggios which evolve into tonally ambiguous gypsy scales and the music takes on a meditative, exotic, "middle-eastern" resemblance, before leading back to more familiar forms.

I don't understand why some consider this collection "less accessible" than some of his other releases. If you've liked any ONE of Keith's single disc improvisations you should enjoy all of these - they sound like an index to all of Jarrett's many styles. There's something for everyone.