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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.
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Reviews:
"Testament" is a testament to Keith Jarrett's skills.
The audiences in Paris and London were indeed fortunate to have been with Jarrett during these performances. The alteration between ballads and 'rocky road' intepretations is well-planned and executed. To understand the personal issues and anguish that Jarrett was experiencing serves to heighten the importance of "Testament". This is a standout in the oeuvre of Keith Jarrett.
Minimal grunting!
While I've been a big Jarrett fan for two decades, I have been reluctant to buy Jarrett albums over the past few years because of his grunting and "singing," which, one day for no apparent reason, started to bother me. I mean, yes, he's a genius, but there are myriad gifted musicians out there who don't feel the need to get in their own way. I almost did not get this one, but in the samples, I didn't detect any of his noises. Whether he is trying to control himself or they were brought down in the mix, they are virtually inaudible, making this recording, in my estimation, a very pretty, tranquil (though not groundbreaking) listen.
Evidence of his great artistry
"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.
ah bremen - ah my song - ah standards vol I
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. I could EASILY be wrong. 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.
From the Wilderness into the Light
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
