Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47013 in Digital Music Album
• Published on: 2009-01-27
• Released on: 2009-01-27
• Running time: 4524 seconds

Customer Reviews

KEITH JARRETT's "STANDARDS TRIO" IN A MUST-HEAR LIVE SET
Five SWINGING Stars! 'Killer' performances from one of the greatest jazz trios in history and they just seem to get better with each new offering. Recorded live in Tokyo during 2001, Japan and released as both a single CD and LP (a format that is showing some resurgence), this is the CD to get if you've been away from the "Standards Trio" for a while, as I have. Jazz poll winners Keith Jarrett (a 2008 DownBeat Hall of Fame inductee), master bassist Gary Peacock, and the incredible drum-meister Jack DeJohnette, are in tight trio configuration and highly inventive form as they dip into the bebop, post-bop, and Tin Pan Alley treasure troves.

The 'best of the best' begins with blazing performances of the Bird/Diz bop anthem "Shaw'nuff" (which went straight to my iPod) and the 9 minute exposition of "Scrapple from the Apple". If there was any doubt that Mr Jarrett had recovered from his past disability or can at least control it, these amazing performances dispel it: pushed to the max by Jack and Gary, his formidable technique is unerring and breathtaking, as are his ideas. "Stella By Starlight" is the best of the 2009 versions, and the 'could-be maudlin' "You've Changed" is transformed into a jaunty ballad by Keith's facile keyboard ideas, with a buoyant Peacock solo and tasty DeJohnette brushwork. Ditto for "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" with an effective modulation shift that levitates the song into sonic suspension. Horace Silver's "Strollin'" is superb, revealing the Standard's Trio in all of its glory. Bravo, gentlemen. My Highest Recommendation!!! Five ENJOYABLE Stars!!
(This review is based on an iTunes Plus download.
Trivia: The Standards Trio was known as "The Out of Towners" for some performances. Keith Jarrett is also a formidable classical pianist & harpsichordist as evidenced by Mozart: Piano Concertos nos. 271, 453, and 466 / Davies, Jarrett & Bach: Goldberg Variations / Keith Jarrett, respectively.)

For Completists Only
I have always wondered how ECM Records funds itself. Their catalog is vast, the production values are extremely high, but the appeal, in the grand scheme of things, is limited, and the commercial potential near zero. But now I think I know - whenever they need money, they simply release another Keith Jarrett set culled from their vaults and sit back to watch his rabid fans for whom he can do no wrong gobble it up.

The material on "Yesterdays" was recorded live back in 2001, but not released until now, and while it is not bad per se, the trio breaks no new ground. All three members play well, with Gary Peacock's bass being a particular standout, but there are no "must-hear" tracks or even solos. In addition, Keith Jarrett's notorious humming and moaning is far more pronounced on this record than it has been in the past. Granted - anyone who is going to listen to Jarrett in any quantity has to accept it as part and parcel of the experience, and learn to listen through it - but here it seems much more distracting than on other recent records.

For a much better example of Jarrett's post-illness trio work, I would recommend "Whisper Not" from 1999, also recorded live, over "Yesterdays" without hesitation.

More of the same
No more surprises. No more places he hasn't taken us before. Still, beautiful. I do miss some of his gorgeous intros from the 80's and 90's. Those are remarkable. Thank you, Keith, Jack and Gary for inspiring us musicians and music lovers for some many years, over and over again.