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
It’s a remarkable show, hinting at what alternative paths he might have taken. The clarity and presence of this German radio recording reveals the full extent of the interplay between Jarrett, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian, intuitive and supportive, questing and selfless.
Andy Gill, The Independent
Jarretts Trio mit Schlagzeuger Paul Motian und Kontrabassist Charlie Haden experimentierte mit Klängen und Strukturen, verhakte sich in rauen Motiven, genoss den Schwung der extase und erntete dafür begeisterten Applaus. Herrlich frisch, unorthodox wirken diese Dokumente aus dem Archiv des NDR.
Werner Stiefele, Audio
An invaluable timepiece of a recording. […] the music of ‘Hamburg ‘72’ is the product of a group spirit rich with a jazz urgency that is truly ageless.
Walter Tunis, Lexington Herald Leader
A lot happens in ‘Hamburg ‘72,’ which was recorded with clear, spacious sound for German radio during the band’s first European tour. Here, songs change their character profoundly and emphatically. (Mr. Jarrett wrote specifically for this band, but he let it take its own shape; he didn’t hold it to a defined or consolidated sound.) ‘Rainbow’ begins as a jazz-ballad waltz and gradually becomes agitated. Mr. Jarrett’s rhythmic phrasing starts to shift and wobble, his phrasing turning into long, unbroken runs; Motian’s drumming starts becoming weirdly, excellently loud; and the piece ends with two minutes of unaccompanied piano, alternating thundering and very quiet chords. Throughout, the band is always reminding you, almost threatening you, that it can go where it wants.[…] This is a record you’ll play for others to watch their reactions.
Ben Ratliff, The New York Times
Die Musik ist frei genug um das Vertraute nicht abgenutzt erscheinen zu lassen. Wenn mitten in ‚Song for Che‘ eine sehr gewöhnliche Kadenz auftaucht, verdreht deshalb keiner die Augen: sie ist nur schön. Und gleichzeitig ist diese Musik virtuos genug, um ihr Material als offenen Grundriss zu behandeln, auf dem sich weite Fluchten anlegen lassen, behagliche Nischen oder hin und wieder auch etwas völlig Unsinniges. Es schmerzt ein wenig zu wissen, dass solche Souveränität längst etwas Seltenes ist.
Thomas Steinfeld, Süddeutsche Zeitung
The total freedom and uninhibitedness give this set a different kind of power – audible in Jarrett’s Coleman-phrased soprano-sax solo over Haden’s bass-walk on ‘Piece for Ornette’, and Motian’s slams and rattles on ‘Song for Che.’ It’s the work of trio in tune with each other – and with the spirit of their time.
John Fordham, The Guardian
Keith Jarrett ist hier von einer berstenden Spielfreude mit bizarrsten Einfällen am Klavier, als wollte er ein für alle Mal die unselige Zeit it dem E-Piano und der elektrischen Orgel bei Miles Davis vergessen machen und auch am Sopransaxophon zeigen, dass er sich auf der Höhe seines Vorbilds Ornette Coleman befindet. Paul Motian fügt diesen Klangskulpturen seine ziselierten Muster wie wertvolle Intarsien ein, und Charlie Haden ist hier der Bassist mit den klarsten Strukturen, dem wärmsten Ton und dem stärksten Ausdruck im Jazz, der er immer war. Eine großartige Aufnahme, die auch ein wenig wehmütig stimmt. Paul Motian ist 2011, Charlie Haden am 11. Juli dieses Jahres gestorben.
Wolfgang Sandner, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
This release is quite an event – a beautifully recorded, largely unreleased live concert by Jarrett’s first trio. In 1972 Jarrett, bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian had been together for five years, and had reached a pitch of togetherness that sounds quite miraculous here. There was always a special kind of intimacy between Jarrett and Haden, the airy piano inventions contrasting with the woody earthiness of the bass. Motian’s response was often unexpected yet always somehow right. Motian died in 2011, Haden in July this year, making this an invaluable memento of an unrepeatable group.
Dave Gelly, The Observer
Given that he has been active for almost 50 years, Jarrett’s record releases are almost uncountable but ‘Hamburg ‘72’ deserves a place in the outhouse that keen fans have surely had to construct for their collection. As a document of music caught in the moment, of three young players throwing caution to the wind, the record stands a classic of its time.
John Bungey, The Times
Great music and a fascinating document of a key moment in Jarrett’s career.
Mike Hobart, Financial Times
Full of sheer abandon in its best parts, which include the fractured experimentalism of Jarrett on soprano saxophone going one step beyond on ‘Song For Che’, but also packed with the sheer romanticism (developed to the nth degree in later years by the Standards trio) best heard on ‘Rainbow’ right at the beginning, Motian’s jagged swing the pinch of salt that makes Jarrett’s hands ‘sing’ that bit more.
Stephen Graham, Marlbank
Over four decades on, it is astonishing just how fresh the music from these masters still is.
Garry Booth, BBC Music Magazine
A timely reminder of just how good this trio was, and we can once again marvel at the bass playing of Charlie Haden, as mixing began on these tapes the day after Haden’s passing. Another important document not just in Jarrett’s discography, but that of all participants.
Nick Lea, Jazz Views
‘Hamburg 72’ is so good that words are barely sufficient to convey its impact. It contains some of the most exciting jazz you will ever experience, and there is no question about it being one of the records of the year.
Andy Boeckstaens, London Jazz news
This historically important release features Jarrett's American trio in a live performance at NDR Funkhaus, Hamburg, in 1972, and NDR's recording for radio has been expertly remixed by ECM boss Manfred Eicher and engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug. Jarrett, bassist Haden and drummer Motian form an immensely powerful creative force together, and their performances on all six tracks are consistently inspired.
John Watson, Jazz Camera
This trio goes where the spirit leads, and the spirit is generous, indeed. From Jarrett’s wizard-like perambulations and Motian’s spirited and riveting cymbal and drum work to Haden’s sonic and emotional depth, Hamburg ’72 is a luminous recording that reveals all the magic and majesty at play between these remarkable musicians.
Ken Micallef, DownBeat
The trio had already recorded several attractive albums for Atlantic, but ‘Hamburg ‘72’ finds them moving up several gears in music of both scintillating precision and expansive group empathy, as rich in dynamic diversity as it is enfolded, overall, in poetic nuance.
Michael Tucker, Jazz Journal
The remix is superb and the interplay between these master musicians is fresh, vibrant, and makes for fascinating listening especially to hear the proficiency that Jarrett possessed playing the flute and soprano sax.
Jeff Krow, Audiophile Audition
Throughout ‘Hamburg ’72’ there’s a feeling of freedom and freshness, of anything being possible, then made real in sound. […] Highly recommended.
Richard Lehnert, Stereophile
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).
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