Recorded live in 2016 at Auditorium, Opéra National, Bordeaux, Jarrett plays a suite consisting of some 13 movements numbered Bordeaux I - XIII. That Jarrett is a master pianist is beyond question. Likewise as an innovator, he has taken contemporary jazz piano into previously unexplored territory even further than legends such as Evans, Corea or Hancock.
In a blindfold test, the listener, other than the Jarrett specialist, could well be forgiven for thinking some of the tracks were modernistic classical pieces. The jazz chords we are used to are applied sparing and well-hidden although in Part VIII his bluesy side does emerge and he plays what is almost whorehouse piano complete with repetitive bass line.
Technically I can't fault him, he is in a class of his own and, because of this uniqueness, to judge him by any standards other than his own is pointless and, in many ways, insulting. It's an album that is at times breathtaking, at other times romantic and, occasionally, boring but, only occasionally.
PART III Available on ECM. Lance
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