Keith Jarrett – Piano
(Review by Hugh C).
This neatly packaged 4CD set was recorded at solo concert performances by Keith Jarrett at Modena, Ferrara, Torino and Genova in October 1996. These represent the last four concerts he played having no breaks in each set. The four CDs are presented in individual slip cases with the titles and timings printed on the back. A set of notes written by Jarrett himself are included, together with a full discography.
Jarrett regards his playing at these concerts as a pinnacle of his career. After these concerts were over he couldn't play again for two years due to (what is now known as) chronic fatigue syndrome. The title of the set – A Multitude of Angels – is a reference to the people, circumstances, equipment and events that contributed to Jarrett's ability to play through these concerts and record them flawlessly (Jarrett acted as both player and engineer, recording on his personal DAT recorder at the back of the stage) despite his illness.
Jarrett revisited these recordings after 20 years and was taken back to “the memory of who I was in 1966, what my thoughts were about, what galvanised my life into a struggle for exactly the consciousness that we can so easily lose”. As he listened he felt the angels took their places beside him and urged him gently to go on – A Multitude of Angels is the result.
The four discs are:
MODENA
October 23, 1996
Part I – Part II – Danny Boy
FERRARA
October 25, 1996
Part I – Part II – Encore
TORINO
October 28, 1996
Part I – Part II
GENOVA
October 30, 1996
Part I – Part II - Encore – Over The Rainbow
Each Part represents a continuous set of between 30 and 43 minutes. This is vintage Jarrett - driving rhythm interspersed by more extended reflective improvisation, both with full vocals (grunts, sighs, exclamations and scat piano) and percussive foot tapping.
Each disc is exquisitely recorded (full technical details of the strategy and equipment used are in Jarrett's comprehensive sleeve notes) and a beautiful record of the event - not one single audience cough did I hear on any of these CDs, and no clapping over the dying embers of the final piano chord. This set is likely to appeal to the enthusiast. I'm not sure your general jazz head would sit through more than 4 hours of solo piano. This is undoubtedly a classic, but perhaps with a limited market.
Hugh C.
A Multitude of Angels is currently available on ECM, catalogue No. ECM2503
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