Recorded at his home studio in 1986, “No End” illuminates hitherto undocumented aspects of Keith Jarrett’s music. He is heard here on electric guitars, electric bass, drums and percussion, overdubbing tribal dances of his own devising: “Somehow something happened during these days in the 80s that won’t ever be repeated,” he writes in his liner notes. “There was really, to my knowledge, no forethought or composition – in the typical sense – going on; just a feeling or a rhythmic idea or a bass line concept or melody. None of this was written down.” On the instrumentation: “Drums were always with me in some way,” Jarrett reflects. “I have always been drawn to instruments that you touch directly, without a mechanism in between. Therefore, I cannot say that I have ever loved the piano as much as the drums or guitar.” With, primarily, these instruments (piano this time has only a cameo role) Jarrett has shaped one of his most unusual albums.
No End
Keith Jarrett
Aufgenommen 1986 in seinem Heimstudio, offenbart “No End” bisher undokumentierte Aspekte in Keith Jarretts Musik. Er ist hier an elektrischen Gitarren, elektrischem Bass, Schlagzeug und Perkussion zu hören, wie er Overdubs über eigene Improvisationen spielt: „Irgendwie passierte in diesen Tagen während der 80er Jahre etwas, das sich nie wiederholen wird“, schreibt er in seinen Liner Notes. „Es gab, soweit ich mich erinnere, keinerlei Vorüberlegungen oder Kompositionen im herkömmlichen Sinn – nur ein Gefühl oder reine rhythmische Idee oder ein Konzept für eine Basslinie oder Melodie. Nichts davon war niedergeschrieben.“ Über die Instrumentierung: „Schlagzeug war immer irgendwie mit mir“, reflektiert Jarrett. „Ich habe mich immer von Instrumenten angezogen gefühlt, die man direkt berührt, ohne einen zwischengelagerten Mechanismus. Von daher kann ich nicht von mir sagen, das Piano jemals so geliebt zu haben wie Schlagzeug oder Gitarre.“ Hauptsächlich mit diesen Instrumenten (das Piano hat diesmal nur eine Art Cameo-Rolle) hat Jarrett eines seiner ungewöhnlichsten Alben gestaltet.
- CD 1
- 1No End I
07:22 - 2No End II
03:37 - 3No End III
05:39 - 4No End IV
05:25 - 5No End V
03:39 - 6No End VI
05:36 - 7No End VII
04:06 - 8No End VIII
03:57 - 9No End IX
04:47 - 10No End X
02:33 - CD 2
- 1No End XI
04:05 - 2No End XII
06:14 - 3No End XIII
03:48 - 4No End XIV
04:55 - 5No End XV
04:28 - 6No End XVI
02:46 - 7No End XVII
03:40 - 8No End XVIII
05:48 - 9No End XIX
07:12 - 10No End XX
03:04
“The Studio: Cables and cords everywhere. A drum set in the corner. Tablas and percussion, instruments of all kinds strewn around the room. A beautiful deep red Gibson solid-body on a vertical stand alongside a blond wood classic Fender bass in its stand, both in front of the same blond wood chair which was directly opposite the drums. The tablas were on my American Steinway. Microphone stands were in front of the guitars, holding (to the best of my knowledge) a Neumann stereo microphone, and I believe another identical microphone was on a boom over the tablas. All the other percussion was played using the room as the guide as to where to stand or how loud to play, though I had to do many tests to achieve some intuition about this. My studio is very small, so I didn't move the drum set at all, or the microphone while playing the drums.
In the control room were two Tandberg cassette recorders which were used exclusively for this project; so I would record something first, then overdub, using headphones as a guide to the volume or position I needed to use, then overdub (with headphones, always) again, each time transforming the new information to the ‘other’ machine. Then I would put the newly recorded tape in the first machine, start them both, and run into the studio to overdub or start the next piece. Not a single machine breakdown occurred despite the fact that no one was in the control room monitoring anything.
There was really, to my knowledge, no forethought or ‘composition’ (in the typical sense) going on; just a feeling or a rhythmic idea or a bass line concept or melody. But none of this was written down. Beginnings and endings were either hit-or-miss or just plain astoundingly intuitive.
I used a small mixing board and a little reverb to send the sound out to the headphones and simultaneously onto tape. I honestly can't remember a hell of a lot about the details, but somehow something happened during these days in the 80's that won't ever be repeated. I had wanted to record on drums most of my life, and when I got the tape out recently, I thought I'd better run with it.
(....) Drums were always with me in some way. (...) I have always been drawn to instruments that you touch directly, without a mechanism in between. Therefore, I cannot say I have ever loved the piano as much as the drums or the guitar. And, though I have a reputation for being in the acoustic world, I have always loved electric guitar.”
In the control room were two Tandberg cassette recorders which were used exclusively for this project; so I would record something first, then overdub, using headphones as a guide to the volume or position I needed to use, then overdub (with headphones, always) again, each time transforming the new information to the ‘other’ machine. Then I would put the newly recorded tape in the first machine, start them both, and run into the studio to overdub or start the next piece. Not a single machine breakdown occurred despite the fact that no one was in the control room monitoring anything.
There was really, to my knowledge, no forethought or ‘composition’ (in the typical sense) going on; just a feeling or a rhythmic idea or a bass line concept or melody. But none of this was written down. Beginnings and endings were either hit-or-miss or just plain astoundingly intuitive.
I used a small mixing board and a little reverb to send the sound out to the headphones and simultaneously onto tape. I honestly can't remember a hell of a lot about the details, but somehow something happened during these days in the 80's that won't ever be repeated. I had wanted to record on drums most of my life, and when I got the tape out recently, I thought I'd better run with it.
(....) Drums were always with me in some way. (...) I have always been drawn to instruments that you touch directly, without a mechanism in between. Therefore, I cannot say I have ever loved the piano as much as the drums or the guitar. And, though I have a reputation for being in the acoustic world, I have always loved electric guitar.”
