Standards (Jarrett album)

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Standards

Standards, Vol. 1
Studio album by Keith Jarrett Trio
Released 1983
Recorded January 1983
Manhattan, New York City
Genre Jazz
Length 45:33 (Vol. 1)
45:08 (Vol. 2)
90:41 (Total)
Label ECM
Producer Manfred Eicher
Keith Jarrett Trio chronology

Changes
(1983)		 Standards
(1983)		 Spirits 1 & 2
(1985)
Standards, Vol. 2
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Vol. 1: Allmusic [1]
Vol. 1: Rolling Stone [2]
Vol. 2: Allmusic [3]

Standards is a two-volume set of jazz albums released by the Keith Jarrett trio in 1983. Originally released by ECM, they have been multiply re-issued, including by Universal/Polygram. The two volumes present performances of pianist Keith Jarrett with Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums. Vol. 1 reached #14 on the Billboard Jazz Albums charts. In 2008 the two albums, along with 1983's Changes, were collected into a boxed set, Setting Standards: New York Sessions.[4]

Background

The trio originally worked together on a 1977 album headline by Peacock, Tales of Another, coming back together in 1983 when producer Manfred Eicher proposed a trio album to Jarrett.[5] Jarrett approached Peacock and DeJohnette with the idea of performing standards, which was greatly contrary to the contemporary jazz scene of the early 1980s.[5] In a 2008 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Jarrett recalled his reasons for wanting to record standards. "This material was so damn good," he said, "and why was everyone ignoring it and playing clever stuff that sounds all the same?"[5] He told Salon in 2000 that "[a] valuable player doesn't have to play anything new to have value, because it's not about the material, it's about the playing."[6]

The three joined in a studio in Manhattan, New York for a 11⁄2 day session during which they recorded enough material for three albums, the two Standards volumes and Changes. For that session, as in subsequent, the trio did not rehearse or pre-plan their playlist.[5][6]

DeJohnette, also speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle, recalled that the trio had agreed to "do this until we don't feel like doing this anymore".[5] In 2008, the trio celebrated its 25th anniversary,[5] becoming during that time "the preeminent jazz group interpreting standards".[6]

Reception

The first of the pair, Standards, Vol. 1 reached #14 on the Billboard Jazz Albums charts.[7] In its review, Rolling Stone describes the album as "merely...competent", criticizing Jarrett's "deficiencies as a jazz improviser".[8] The second in the series, Standards, Vol. 2, did not chart, but according to jazz commentator Scott Yanow "gets the edge over the first due to its slightly more challenging material".[9] Yanow characterizes Jarrett's performance in this set as "surprisingly playful".[9]

Jazz musician and writer Ian Carr noted in his biography of Jarrett that with these volumes the trio had found "fresh ways of approaching the classic jazz repertoire".[10] In its review of the box set, Pop Matters noted that the material "sounded dazzling in the mid-1980s", adding that "[f]ans of Jarrett, like myself, will always hear these records as having a fresh immediacy".[11]

Track listing

Vol. 1

Side one

  1. "Meaning of the Blues" (Bobby Troup, Leah Worth) – 9:26
  2. "All the Things You Are" (Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern) – 7:47
  3. "It Never Entered My Mind" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 6:48

Side two

  1. "The Masquerade Is Over" (Herbert Magidson, Allie Wrubel) – 6:01
  2. "God Bless the Child" (Arthur Herzog Jr., Billie Holiday) – 15:32

Vol. 2

Side one

  1. "So Tender" (Jarrett, Airto Moreira) – 7:19
  2. "Moon and Sand" (William Engvick, Morty Palitz, Alec Wilder) – 8:59
  3. "In Love in Vain" (Jerome Kern, Leo Robin) – 7:14

Side two

  1. "Never Let Me Go" (Ray Evans, Jay Livingston) – 7:52
  2. "If I Should Lose You" (Ralph Rainger, Robin) – 8:32
  3. "I Fall in Love Too Easily" (Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne) – 5:12

Personnel

Technical personnel

References

  1. ↑ Yanow, Scott (2011 [last update]). "Standards, Vol. 1 - Keith Jarrett Trio | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
  2. ↑ Futterman, Steve (2011 [last update]). "Keith Jarrett: Standards, Vol. 1 : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". web.archive.org. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
  3. ↑ Yanow, Scott (2011 [last update]). "Standards, Vol. 2 - Keith Jarrett Trio | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011. 
  4. ↑ Kelman, John. (2008-01-16) Setting Standards: New York Sessions All About Jazz. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Gans, Charles J. (2008-01-24). "Keith Jarrett Trio Celebrates 25 Years". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2008-09-12. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Rubien, David. (2000-12-04) Keith Jarrett. Salon.com. Retrieved 2008-09-12
  7. ↑ Standards, Vol. 1 Billboard at AllMusic
  8. ↑ Futterman, Steve. (1983-12-08) Standards, Vol. 1 Rolling Stone, #401. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Standards, Vol. 2 at AllMusic
  10. ↑ Carr, Ian (1992). Keith Jarrett: The Man and His Music. Da Capo Press. p. 166. ISBN 0-306-80478-6. 
  11. ↑ Layman, Will. (2008-01-22) Setting Standards: New York Sessions Pop Matters. Retrieved 2008-09-12.

External links

  • Interview at NPR, "Jarrett and Peacock explain how they wound up playing standards after so many years of playing original music." National Public Radio.
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