KEITH JARRETT / GARY PEACOCK / JACK DeJOHNETTE -
After The Fall
ECM 671 6506
Keith Jarrett: piano; Gary Peacock: double-bass; Jack DeJohnette: drums
Recorded November 1998
One of the saddest events in jazz during recent years was the disbandment of Keith Jarrett’s Standards Trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Over the trio’s 30+ year existence they transformed oft over played standards from the Great American Songbook into something special by treating the source material as a guide post for improvisational derring-do. The trifecta also excelled at free music, releasing terrific avant garde efforts like Changes (ECM, 1983), Changeless (ECM, 1987), Inside Out (ECM, 2001) and Always Let Me Go: Live in Tokyo (ECM, 2002). The trio played their last concert on November 30, 2014, so it’s fitting that After The Fall, a new double album of the trio recorded at the same venue of the last concert, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) recorded on November 14, 1998 is released now. The album represents a new beginning for Jarrett in that point of his career after being laid out from Chronic fatigue syndrome now called systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID).
The music contained on After The Fall consists of the first public notes played in the familiar trio setting by the pianist after recovery, with last year’s outstanding “A Multitude of Angels” 4 CD boxed set comprising the last of the marathon solo improvised epics before SEID struck heavily. The trio embarked on the November 14thconcert following failed rehearsals in Jarrett’s home where the pianist relapsed, and the only way he felt he could test if he wanted to play with the trio was to perform a concert. As a result, the “experimental concert” as he terms in the liner notes was not professionally recorded by ECM, but is the result of a board mix tape by house engineer Alain Leduc which isn’t half bad. Jarrett chose to focus on bebop for the gig as he found that the easiest way to gauge how he was feeling, and the album can be viewed as a prequel of sorts to the also bebop focused Whisper Not (ECM, 2000) the acclaimed recording of a 1999 Paris concert which was the first trio release since Tokyo ‘96 (ECM, 1997) and the first album after his comeback with The Melody At Night With You (ECM, 1997). Jarrett’s playing on the new release is so joyous and buoyant that it never leaves any inkling of the debilitating illness that left him unable to play for two years.
Disc 1’s fifteen plus minute opener “The Masquerade Is Over” is testament to that fact with a two and a half minute solo introduction as a prelude to take no prisoners swinging on the part of the three men. “Scrapple From The Apple” follows in a scorching rendition that perhaps is even hotter than the great version on Up For It (ECM, 2003) with particularly charged four bar exchanges with Jarrett and DeJohnette. “Old Folks” and “Autumn Leaves” are tunes the Standards Trio covered before, but every version is different and has it’s own nuances, the classic Robison/Hill ballad benefits from DeJohnette’s sensitive brush work, Jarrett’s use of repetition and a gorgeous Peacock solo where one can hear the pianist periodically exclaim “yeah, Gary!”. “Autumn Leaves” boils with a different kind of intensity than the definitive version found on Keith Jarrett At the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings (ECM, 1995). Jarrett here dances on top of Peacock’s unwavering swinging bass and DeJohnette’s ever changing ride cymbal beat. Peacock takes another superb solo that organically dissolves into a classic Jarrett vamp with the trio improvising freely, segueing into the return of the head and a funky coda. In a sense because this is a board tape from a different engineer, the listener can really hear in a fresh way how the drummer and pianist interact. DeJohnette frequently compliments the music with subtle comping and then erupting into sudden flourishes that quickly resolve themselves to order. As Jarrett said in the liners to My Foolish Heart: Live at Montreux (ECM, 2007) “Jack bustles through the music, creating whirlwinds and traffic jams from which he re-emerges (as do we) unscathed and somehow better for it”. This kind of dialogue on this album is as wonderful to hear as on the 20+ plus releases from this group.
Disc 2 opens with a spirited take on Bud Powell’s timeless “Bouncin’ With Bud” also found on “Whisper Not”. The pianist slashes with a forward intensity freely spinning off double time phrases, and compared to “The Whisper Not” version, the drummer and pianist engage in particularly explosive exchanges. What really makes the album a worthy addition is the inclusion of numbers from the classic jazz canon such as Sonny Rollins’ “Doxy” and John Coltrane’s “Moment’s Notice”. “Doxy” finds Jarrett reveling in the bluesy medium tempo swing and uncorking some of his best playing of the set. The biggest surprise however, has to be “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, the Christmas favorite receiving a funky, straight 8th boogaloo treatment much as Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing” did on The Cure (ECM, 1990). The refreshing treatment renders it something that can be enjoyed year round. The pianist always excelled on “When I Fall In Love” which, like many of the trio’s albums before closes the set on a reflective note. As always the group finds new things to say, so it’s a still welcome selection.
After The Fall is a stunning reminder of just how great the combination of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette really was and is. Their playing and flexible approach to standards set the tone for a generation of trios to follow and along with the Brad Mehldau Trio one of the most influential groups over the past several decades. As he remarked in the notes for Keith Jarrett: At the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings “What we investigate is the music- making process as well as our own feelings towards this process as well as our commitment to the “something” about jazz that makes it unique, vital, and touching; and the underlying pulse we all share”. The investigation of the music making process and avenues to find roads less traveled has defined this group from it’s inception, and while Still Live (ECM, 1986) and Keith Jarrett: At the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings remain the apex of their tenure, and especially recommended to newcomers, After The Fallenhances their legacy with fire and beauty making it an immediate pickup for fans of the trio, and one hopes Jarrett and ECM will someday release the final concert as well as many other concerts from the band’s lifetime.
Reviewed by CJ Shearn
After The Fall
ECM 671 6506
Keith Jarrett: piano; Gary Peacock: double-bass; Jack DeJohnette: drums
Recorded November 1998
One of the saddest events in jazz during recent years was the disbandment of Keith Jarrett’s Standards Trio with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Over the trio’s 30+ year existence they transformed oft over played standards from the Great American Songbook into something special by treating the source material as a guide post for improvisational derring-do. The trifecta also excelled at free music, releasing terrific avant garde efforts like Changes (ECM, 1983), Changeless (ECM, 1987), Inside Out (ECM, 2001) and Always Let Me Go: Live in Tokyo (ECM, 2002). The trio played their last concert on November 30, 2014, so it’s fitting that After The Fall, a new double album of the trio recorded at the same venue of the last concert, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) recorded on November 14, 1998 is released now. The album represents a new beginning for Jarrett in that point of his career after being laid out from Chronic fatigue syndrome now called systemic exertion intolerance disease (SEID).
The music contained on After The Fall consists of the first public notes played in the familiar trio setting by the pianist after recovery, with last year’s outstanding “A Multitude of Angels” 4 CD boxed set comprising the last of the marathon solo improvised epics before SEID struck heavily. The trio embarked on the November 14thconcert following failed rehearsals in Jarrett’s home where the pianist relapsed, and the only way he felt he could test if he wanted to play with the trio was to perform a concert. As a result, the “experimental concert” as he terms in the liner notes was not professionally recorded by ECM, but is the result of a board mix tape by house engineer Alain Leduc which isn’t half bad. Jarrett chose to focus on bebop for the gig as he found that the easiest way to gauge how he was feeling, and the album can be viewed as a prequel of sorts to the also bebop focused Whisper Not (ECM, 2000) the acclaimed recording of a 1999 Paris concert which was the first trio release since Tokyo ‘96 (ECM, 1997) and the first album after his comeback with The Melody At Night With You (ECM, 1997). Jarrett’s playing on the new release is so joyous and buoyant that it never leaves any inkling of the debilitating illness that left him unable to play for two years.
Disc 1’s fifteen plus minute opener “The Masquerade Is Over” is testament to that fact with a two and a half minute solo introduction as a prelude to take no prisoners swinging on the part of the three men. “Scrapple From The Apple” follows in a scorching rendition that perhaps is even hotter than the great version on Up For It (ECM, 2003) with particularly charged four bar exchanges with Jarrett and DeJohnette. “Old Folks” and “Autumn Leaves” are tunes the Standards Trio covered before, but every version is different and has it’s own nuances, the classic Robison/Hill ballad benefits from DeJohnette’s sensitive brush work, Jarrett’s use of repetition and a gorgeous Peacock solo where one can hear the pianist periodically exclaim “yeah, Gary!”. “Autumn Leaves” boils with a different kind of intensity than the definitive version found on Keith Jarrett At the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings (ECM, 1995). Jarrett here dances on top of Peacock’s unwavering swinging bass and DeJohnette’s ever changing ride cymbal beat. Peacock takes another superb solo that organically dissolves into a classic Jarrett vamp with the trio improvising freely, segueing into the return of the head and a funky coda. In a sense because this is a board tape from a different engineer, the listener can really hear in a fresh way how the drummer and pianist interact. DeJohnette frequently compliments the music with subtle comping and then erupting into sudden flourishes that quickly resolve themselves to order. As Jarrett said in the liners to My Foolish Heart: Live at Montreux (ECM, 2007) “Jack bustles through the music, creating whirlwinds and traffic jams from which he re-emerges (as do we) unscathed and somehow better for it”. This kind of dialogue on this album is as wonderful to hear as on the 20+ plus releases from this group.
Disc 2 opens with a spirited take on Bud Powell’s timeless “Bouncin’ With Bud” also found on “Whisper Not”. The pianist slashes with a forward intensity freely spinning off double time phrases, and compared to “The Whisper Not” version, the drummer and pianist engage in particularly explosive exchanges. What really makes the album a worthy addition is the inclusion of numbers from the classic jazz canon such as Sonny Rollins’ “Doxy” and John Coltrane’s “Moment’s Notice”. “Doxy” finds Jarrett reveling in the bluesy medium tempo swing and uncorking some of his best playing of the set. The biggest surprise however, has to be “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”, the Christmas favorite receiving a funky, straight 8th boogaloo treatment much as Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing” did on The Cure (ECM, 1990). The refreshing treatment renders it something that can be enjoyed year round. The pianist always excelled on “When I Fall In Love” which, like many of the trio’s albums before closes the set on a reflective note. As always the group finds new things to say, so it’s a still welcome selection.
After The Fall is a stunning reminder of just how great the combination of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette really was and is. Their playing and flexible approach to standards set the tone for a generation of trios to follow and along with the Brad Mehldau Trio one of the most influential groups over the past several decades. As he remarked in the notes for Keith Jarrett: At the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings “What we investigate is the music- making process as well as our own feelings towards this process as well as our commitment to the “something” about jazz that makes it unique, vital, and touching; and the underlying pulse we all share”. The investigation of the music making process and avenues to find roads less traveled has defined this group from it’s inception, and while Still Live (ECM, 1986) and Keith Jarrett: At the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings remain the apex of their tenure, and especially recommended to newcomers, After The Fallenhances their legacy with fire and beauty making it an immediate pickup for fans of the trio, and one hopes Jarrett and ECM will someday release the final concert as well as many other concerts from the band’s lifetime.
Reviewed by CJ Shearn
