A solo concert from Keith Jarrett - recorded at Munich’s Philharmonie on July 16, 2016, on the last night of a European tour - finds the great improvising pianist at a peak of invention. Creating a spontaneous suite of forms in the moment with the assurance of a master builder – interspersing touches of the blues and folksong lyricism between pieces of polyrhythmic and harmonic complexity - he delivers one of his very finest performances. An attentive and appreciative audience hangs on every note, every nuance, and is rewarded with some tender encores including a magical version of “It’s A Lonesome Old Town”.
FEATURED ARTISTS
TRACKLIST
Munich Part I–XII
A1 Part I 13:58
A2 Part II 7:23
B1 Part III 6:15
B2 Part IV 4:15
B3 Part V 4:29
B4 Part VI 6:08
B5 Part VII 2:20
C1 Part VIII 8:08
C2 Part IX 3:27
C3 Part X 7:44
D1 Part XI 9:01
D2 Part XII 3:19
D3 Answer Me, My Love, Written-By – Fred Rauch, Gerhard Winkler 4:40
D4 It's A Lonesome Old Town, Written-By – Charles Kisco, Harry Tobias 5:43
D5 Somewhere Over The Rainbow, Written-By – E.Y. Harburg, Harold Arlen 6:43
BACKGROUND
“The solo concert is like another world that has its own rules that I didn’t make up.”
- Keith Jarrett
Jarrett’s solo concert recordings form a unique and continually evolving body of work inside his discography. To trace the line that leads from 1973’s Solo Concerts Bremen-Lausanne is to follow an extraordinary musical journey. High points along the road have included The Köln Concert, Sun Bear Concerts - due for vinyl reissue in the coming months -, Concerts (Bregenz München), Paris Concert, Vienna Concert, La Scala, Radiance, The Carnegie Hall Concert, Testament, Creation, A Multitude of Angels, Rio and La Fenice. Munich 2016 brings the story up to date, a document of Jarrett’s most recent European performance, held in ECM’s hometown. The particular intensity of the Munich performance singles it out as one of the truly outstanding concerts. So, too, the flow of its component parts.
The shape of the individual concerts has been transformed, the large arc of the early concerts, with unbroken improvisations spanning an entire set, giving way to performances made up of discrete, tightly focused spontaneous compositions. Since Jarrett embarked on this quest the number of solo improvisers has multiplied exponentially yet his sense for developing motifs and melodies and uncovering forms in real time remains unparalleled. There is, still, nothing else like a Keith Jarrett solo concert. “Through a series of brilliant solo performances and recordings that demonstrate his utterly spontaneous creativity,” the Polar Music Prize committee noted a few years ago, “Keith Jarrett has simultaneously lifted piano improvisation as an art form to new, unimaginable heights.”
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KEIYH JARRET PIANO SOLO MUNCHEN 2016 OR THE ART OF CREATING IMPROVISING.
After acclaimed and revered Jarret solo albums totally improvised and after passing an episode of chronic fatigue, Jarret has returned to his magic formula, this is his second album after that complicated period. Certainly the structure of these concerts has varied but in essence the challenge remains. A man in front of a piano without rules without limits without net. It must be a total and absolute challenge but in this case it is beautiful. In Munich, the headquarters of the ECM Jarret creates live and direct a whole beautiful plethoric suite of melodies and internal changes as the music itself demands. If we compare it with the previous ones, I notice less tension, more musicality, but being carried away by his own instinct. In addition to three unforgettable versions, Answer my love, It's A Lonesome Old Town and Somewwhere over the Rainbow. I think it is a recital easier to digest than others more introspective but I surrender to its beauty.
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Always moving
Keith's improvisations are always a deeply moving event to enjoy. You feel like you're watching a sky-writer moving through the air.
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A treasure
I hadn't purchased a Jarrett recording in many years. This was abundant compensation
