My Foolish Heart

I bought this set a good while ago, and have only now - and by sheer chance - come upon the reviews posted here. We are all, of course, entitled to our own opinions. But I have to say that I was sorely disappointed by some of what I read. This is an absolutely marvellous set, with fine playing by all hands and an interesting variety of material and styles. Keith Jarrett's playing demonstrates - yet again - what a highly talented musician he is, with the ability to turn his hand to a wide range of material. His playing on the 3 numbers associated with "Fats" Waller is terrific. Elsewhere, he demonstrates incomparable lyricism on ballads such as his heart-stopping playing on "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry". And elsewhere again, he thrills with his work on the likes of "Green Dolphin Street", which also features some terrific work by Jack DeJohnette. That's one of the joys of Keith Jarrett - the ability to produce masterpieces whatever the starting point. I hope sometime next year to give a short introductory presentation on Keith Jarrett to fellow-members of Letchworth Jazz Appreciation Society using the 3 tracks that I have mentioned (in that order) to demonstrate for newcomers the man's versatility and sheer class.

Only came with one cd. It's a double album. Had the hassle of returning it for a refund.

Really enjoyed & always near theTurntable..

Live has always been good for Keith Jarrett and this is one of his best CD's

Side one is good, but then it goes downhill. You need to be a fan for this one. Not an album to convert me to Jarrett

With the exception of the occasional, pattern-breaking release (such as Changeless or Always Let Me Go) you know pretty much exactly what you're getting with the Keith Jarrett Trio: a flawless but too often uninvolving meander through standards material that seems well within the capabilities of the three performers. While the group has occasionally scaled dizzy heights (as with the Blue Note Complete Recordings boxed set) it has more usually proved the ideal piano trio for jazz fans who don't like to be surprised or challenged.For the first half hour of this two disc set, everything runs to the well-established pattern: the title track and "What's New?" are given the trademark ballad treatment, while busy soloing fleshes out the faster numbers. Then, however, something happens that the liner notes tell is unique for a concert by this trio: Jarrett breaks into a stride style for "Ain't Misbehavin'", and then maintains that style for "Honeysuckle Rose" and "You Took Advantage of Me".Now there's no denying that we don't need a player of Keith Jarrett's calibre to start playing ragtime, but the performances are so perfectly achieved that the listener finds himself or herself in a Woody Allen film (one of the funny ones) for twenty minutes. DeJohnette, forced into the role of trad timekeeper, becomes witty and subversive; another reviewer criticizes the performance here, but it's almost forced upon him by the context. Peacock (too low in the mix, not for the first time) almost disappears until his solo spots, when his playing is probing and far from pastiche.After such a streak of off-kilter brilliance, "Straight, No Chaser" goes almost to an opposite extreme, delivering one of the hottest performances ever from the trio. Here the tempo is notably faster than the versions of this piece on Blue Note or Bye Bye Blackbird, and Peacock takes a lively solo early. Then, two minutes in, Jarrett and DeJohnette are again unlike themselves: squabbling over the tempo, each seeming determined to throw one another off. Indeed, Jarrett is so deep into the track that after it finishes he interrupts the applause to play unaccompanied for forty seconds of intense jazz counterpoint. It's the track to play to anyone who dismisses Jarrett as aural prozac.Not the last track on this long album, but the last in this purple patch is a performance of "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry" that is almost the quintessential Jarrett ballad performance; for over ten minutes, he is again a pure, unapologetic melodist.For a third of its length, this album is one of the best that the Keith Jarrett Trio has released, and I can't think of another one of their albums that can boast a longer period of inspiration. The rest of the album is business as usual, which is still a recommendation. For fans, it is a definite safe purchase, and the curious can approach it with confidence.

Well thats another Standards Trio album I've had to buy. I've already got at least a dozen CD's of this Trio, including the monumental Live at the Blue Note boxed set. Why did I have to buy this? Because Jarrett plays three stride style pieces on this double album. He's hinted at this style before with the standards trio on 'Wrap your Troubles in Dreams' (from Whisper Not) and completely pulverised the style on 'Old Rag' (from Somewhere Before).Not surprisingly his performances of the stride style here are very good. The pick of the bunch is Ain't Misbehavin' which has some inspired solos, using harmonies that Fats Waller certainly wouldn't have played, and exchanging short solos with JJ near the end. Unlike the previous reviewers I did not find these tracks reminding me of Woody Allen films or find Jack DeJohnette's drumming at all out of place. I suppose it depends on what you are used to. I was brought up listening to stride Piano, and although it isn't the style I listen to most of the time, its great to hear it played by a modern Jazz great like Keith Jarrett.So what about if you hate stride Piano? Well the remaining ten tracks are up to the usual impeccable standard. A great mixture of ballads and standards that the Trio play with great panache.The only problem with this Trio is the huge volume of material that has been released over the last 20+ years. However when I heard 'On Green Dolphin Street' from this album I knew I had to give it five stars. I already have a previous version of this by the standards trio (in the Blue Note boxed set) which I have played and played so I thought I might find this new version a bit to samey. Not a chance; Jarrett genuinely tries to improvise on every performance. So yes a few patterns are the same but apart from the tune this is another completely unique performance of the same tune!Overall 9/10