The legendary Keith Jarrett Trio, playing live at NDR Funkhaus, Hamburg. The trio with Haden and Motian – formed in 1966 – was Jarrett’s first great band, his choice of players a masterstroke. With the bassist who had learned his craft in Ornette Coleman’s band, and the drummer from Bill Evans’s ground-breaking trio, Jarrett was able to explore the full scope of modern jazz, from poetic balladry to hard-swinging time-playing to ferocious and fiery free music, the improvisation including episodes with Keith on soprano sax. The interaction between the three musicians is uncanny throughout, reaching a peak in an emotion-drenched performance of Charlie Haden’s “Song for Che”. ECM set up the 1972 tour of the Jarrett Trio, including the German radio concert from which this album is drawn. Manfred Eicher returned to the original tapes 42 years later, remixing the music for this edition in Oslo in July 2014, together with Jan Erik Kongshaug.
Hamburg '72
Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian
Das legendäre Keith Jarrett-Trio, live im NDR-Funkhaus, Hamburg. Das Trio mit Haden und Motian – 1966 formiert – war Jarretts erste großartige Band, die Wahl seiner Mitmusiker ein Geniestreich. Mit dem Bassisten, der sein Handwerk in Ornette Colemans Band erlernt hatte, und dem Schlagzeuger aus Bill Evans‘ bahnbrechendem Trio konnte Jarrett das ganze Spektrum des modernen Jazz ausleuchten, von poetischen Balladen über hart swingendes Rhythmusspiel hin zu feuriger Free-Music, wobei die Improvisationen auch Episoden mit Keith am Sopransax einschlossen. Die Interaktion der drei Musiker ist durchwegs geradezu unheimlich und erreicht in der emotionsgeladenen Fassung von Charlie Hadens „Song for Che“ ihren Höhepunkt. ECM hatte die 1972er Tour des Jarrett Trios organisiert. Zu ihr gehörte auch das deutsche Radiokonzert, aus der nun dieses Album gewonnen wurde. Manfred Eicher nahm sich 42 Jahre später wieder der Originalbänder an und mischte sie im Juli 2014 zusammen mit Jan Erik Kongshaug in Oslo für die vorliegende Edition neu ab.
- 1Rainbow
09:52 - 2Everything That Lives Laments
09:44 - 3Piece For Ornette
09:32 - 4Take Me Back
08:07 - 5Life, Dance
02:59 - 6Song For Che
15:08
The Keith Jarrett Trio, playing live at NDR Funkhaus, Hamburg in July 1972. The trio with Haden and Motian was Jarrett’s first great band, his choice of players a masterstroke. Charlie and Paul hadn’t worked together until Jarrett brought them into each other’s orbit in 1966. With the bassist who had learned his craft in Ornette Coleman’s band, and the drummer from Bill Evans’s ground-breaking trio, Jarrett was able to explore the broadest scope of modern jazz, from poetic balladry to hard-swinging time-playing to ferocious and fiery free music. The improvisation heard in the Hamburg concert includes episodes with Keith on soprano sax and flute as well as piano, while Motian expands the role of percussion in the music, developing the supple, elastic, supremely unpredictable vocabulary that would subsequently become such a crucial part of both Jarrett’s groups and Paul’s own. The interaction between the three musicians is uncanny throughout, reaching a peak in an emotion-drenched performance of Charlie Haden’s “Song for Che” (this is Jarrett’s only recording of a piece that has become a new jazz classic). But from the first notes of “Rainbow”, with its radiant piano, it is clear that something special is happening here.
The German radio concert from which this album is drawn was part of a tour – the first European tour for this trio – organised by ECM. Manfred Eicher returned to the original analog sources 42 years later, remixing the music recorded by NDR engineer Hans-Heinrich Breitkreuz for this edition in Oslo in July 2014, together with Jan Erik Kongshaug. (As it happened, the work took place the day after Charlie Haden’s death.)
Haden’s importance in this music can hardly be overstated. He is such a strong, centering presence. Jarrett plus Haden was always a special combination, of course, as recordings from Arbour Zena to Last Dance have eloquently shown, but for dynamic interplay between pianist and bassist the Hamburg recording is hard to beat. Charlie highly valued this musical association, and the way in which Jarrett would compose tunes for the strengths of the trio members: “I think some of the greatest music made in that time period came out of that group,” Charlie told Ethan Iverson a few years ago. “Keith was always his own person, with original ideas as a leader. He wrote specifically for us. I loved it. He showed up at every rehearsal and sound-check with new music. It’s amazing when you go over a new tune at a sound-check and can’t wait to play it that night, since it already felt like ‘you’.”
The Hamburg concert dates from the beginning of ECM’s association with Keith Jarrett, whose solo album Facing You had been recorded the previous November and released just three months before this show.
In the US, Keith Jarrett had begun to include saxophonist Dewey Redman in his group music and the trio was in the process of morphing into the group colloquially known as Jarrett’s American Quartet. Several of the Jarrett tunes heard here, amongst them “Everything That Lives Laments” and “Piece for Ornette”, would also find expression in the quartet repertoire. Much inspired quartet music was ahead, including the landmark albums The Survivors’ Suite and Eyes of the Heart. But Hamburg ’72 captures the core trio of Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian at the very apex of its creativity.
The trio’s earlier albums were Life Between The Exit Signs (recorded 1967), Somewhere Before (1968) and The Mourning of a Star (1971).
The German radio concert from which this album is drawn was part of a tour – the first European tour for this trio – organised by ECM. Manfred Eicher returned to the original analog sources 42 years later, remixing the music recorded by NDR engineer Hans-Heinrich Breitkreuz for this edition in Oslo in July 2014, together with Jan Erik Kongshaug. (As it happened, the work took place the day after Charlie Haden’s death.)
Haden’s importance in this music can hardly be overstated. He is such a strong, centering presence. Jarrett plus Haden was always a special combination, of course, as recordings from Arbour Zena to Last Dance have eloquently shown, but for dynamic interplay between pianist and bassist the Hamburg recording is hard to beat. Charlie highly valued this musical association, and the way in which Jarrett would compose tunes for the strengths of the trio members: “I think some of the greatest music made in that time period came out of that group,” Charlie told Ethan Iverson a few years ago. “Keith was always his own person, with original ideas as a leader. He wrote specifically for us. I loved it. He showed up at every rehearsal and sound-check with new music. It’s amazing when you go over a new tune at a sound-check and can’t wait to play it that night, since it already felt like ‘you’.”
The Hamburg concert dates from the beginning of ECM’s association with Keith Jarrett, whose solo album Facing You had been recorded the previous November and released just three months before this show.
In the US, Keith Jarrett had begun to include saxophonist Dewey Redman in his group music and the trio was in the process of morphing into the group colloquially known as Jarrett’s American Quartet. Several of the Jarrett tunes heard here, amongst them “Everything That Lives Laments” and “Piece for Ornette”, would also find expression in the quartet repertoire. Much inspired quartet music was ahead, including the landmark albums The Survivors’ Suite and Eyes of the Heart. But Hamburg ’72 captures the core trio of Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian at the very apex of its creativity.
The trio’s earlier albums were Life Between The Exit Signs (recorded 1967), Somewhere Before (1968) and The Mourning of a Star (1971).
