Keith Jarrett: Budapest Concert - 2x LP 180g Vinyl

ECM Records

€34,90
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SKU:
ECM 2700
UPC:
0602507393304
Availability:
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Edition:
2x LP Vinyl
Rotation Speed:
33rpm
Record Weight:
180g
Vinyl Record Type:
LP
ECM Records Cat#:
ECM 2700
Released:
2020 in Germany
Genre:
Jazz
Artist:
Keith Jarrett
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The second complete show to be issued from Keith Jarrett’s 2016 European tour – following on from the widely-acclaimed concert released as Munich 2016 - this double album documents the pianist’s solo performance at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest. Jarrett, whose family roots reach back to Hungary, viewed the Budapest concert as akin to a homecoming, and the context inspired much creative improvisation. Where Jarrett’s early solo concerts shaped a large arc of music over the course of an evening, the later concerts have generated suite-like structures, comprised of independent “movements”, each of them a marvel of spontaneous resourcefulness. Creative energy is applied also to familiar songs given as encores, “It’s A Lonesome Old Town” and “Answer Me”, transformed in the Budapest concert.

FEATURED ARTISTS

TRACKLIST

Budapest Parts I-XII
A1 Part I 14:42
A2 Part II 6:54
B1 Part III 8:10
B2 Part IV 7:53
B3 Part V 5:13
B4 Part VI 3:52
C1 Part VII 5:45
C2 Part VIII 5:35
C3 Part IX 2:42
C4 Part X 8:40
D1 Part XI 5:54
D2 Part XII - Blues 4:04
Encores
D3 It's A Lonesome, Old Town Written-By – Charles Kisco, Harry Tobias 8:01
D4 Answer Me, My Love Written-By – Fred Rauch, Gerhard Winkler 4:55

BACKGROUND

Budapest Concert is the second complete show to be issued from Keith Jarrett’s 2016 European tourrecorded two weeks earlier than the widely-acclaimed concert released as Munich 2016. The new double album documents the pianist’s solo performance at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest. Jarrett, whose family roots reach back to Hungary, viewed the concert as akin to a homecoming – also with regard to his lifelong affection for Bartók, as he explained to the audience - and the context inspired much creative improvisation.
 
Where Jarrett’s early solo concerts shaped a large arc of music over the course of an evening, his later performances, particularly since the Radiance album, have generated suite-like structures, comprised of independent “movements”, each of them a marvel of spontaneous resourcefulness. Reviewing Munich 2016 in London’s Financial Times, Mike Hobart suggested that “the early recitals mixed classical musings, populist references and jazz spontaneity into extended streams of invention, but later recitals separated the strands.” If the process of improvisation was once the subject of the concerts, it could be said that Jarrett’s 21st century solo concerts are less about seeking than finding. There is nothing tentative about the music making on display here: its sense of assurance is among its striking characteristics - whether a ballad, a polyrhythmic study, a tone poem or an essay on the blues is being shaped in the moment.
 
“His magnetism for the audience must come from his polygenre attitude,” wrote Gábor Bóta on Hungary’s Népsava news site. “Jarrett consumes all genres, from light to serious, and makes them his own. Since the entire performance is improvised, we witness the music being birthed right in front of us…One feels that he just sniffs the air, catches a moment’s feeling, clicks his fingers, squints his eyes and there we have it: the right notes, the right melodies, a completely unique performance.”
 
Creative energy is also applied to more familiar songs given as encores, and “It’s A Lonesome Old Town” and a particularly rhapsodic “Answer Me” are transformed in Budapest.
 
Lately, Keith Jarrett has been saying that he views Budapest Concert as his current “gold standard”, the reference work against which other solo recordings might be measured. Whether heard as a late high point in an unprecedented musical journey or enjoyed entirely on its own terms, it is a remarkable achievement.

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3 Reviews Hide Reviews Show Reviews

  • 5
    Magnificent, multi-dimensional, improvised solo piano — five stars all the way.

    Posted by Lee on 10th May 2022

    Keith Jarret's improvisational solo piano music is magnificent. From energetic streams of atonal waterfalls, to lyrical quietude, Jarret covers the entire psycho-spiritual territory. Living music, outside of conventional song frameworks and familiar chordal and melodic concepts. Adventurous, multi-dimensional music for the adventurous, multi-dimensional listener. Five stars all the way.

  • 5
    This concert is the gold standard

    Posted by Kenny on 10th May 2022

    That's Keith Jarrett's own assessment, and it's most accurate. I've been a huge fan (and, as a pianist, a vicariously thrilled one) since I first saw him perform at the New Orleans Jazz Festival in 1976. This concert features Jarrett at his improvisational best. (How could it not?) The pieces are, as always, amazing, with the unbelievably hyper ones bracketed by quieter ones. But when he takes off on one of those fast flights, you really get a physical lift. There are no lows here, only highs. Highly recommended for Jarrett aficionados and/or anyone who appreciates piano improv.

  • 5
    The gold standard

    Posted by Mikio on 10th May 2022

    Only for two encores, “Budapest Concert” is worth buying. “It’s a Lonesome Old Town” and “Answer Me” are also performed in “Munich 2016,” two weeks after this concert. Budapest version is much more disconsolate and wet than Munich. Jeff Tamarkin refers Jarrett’s saying “Budapest Concert” being the gold standard among his solo live albums on his disk review. (Jazz Times, Dec., ’20) Nevertheless, I can’t even choose a favorable one between Munich and Budapest, much less compare with his early performances like Bremen/Lausanne, and Koln. As an ordinary listener, I’m always wondering what causes a major impact on his improvisation? Is it geography, or cultural climate, or simply an air? As is often the case, he starts introductory parts with groping manner as if searching inner-self inside out. How does he come across with beautiful melody during those process? Is it like chiseling a figure out of stone? Or choosing essential pieces for collage? As though receiving an epiphany, he suddenly, but convincingly, plays a serene and accessible melody like part VII. CD2 contains many approachable parts. Listening part V, VIII, and XI becomes my favorite moment. Understanding his backbone well, audience welcomes his blues play with bigger applause. Nate Chinen reports Keith Jarrett has been attacked by stroke twice in 2018 on New York Times.( Oct. 21, 2020) He comments it is unlikely he will ever perform in public again. What a pity we can’t hear him live again.