Hamburg ’72 cover
Recorded
Released

Keith Jarrett’s so-called American Quartet of the 1970s was a true shapeshifter, adept at tightly reined-in pop-jazz hybrids, freeform ritualistic soundscapes and everything in between. The same went for the trio that preceded it — an early showing for the hall-of-fame rhythm team of bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian — heard at peak strength on this fascinating 1972 live set. Anyone who knows Jarrett mainly for his famed solo piano work might be shocked to hear him picking up soprano saxophone here, as on the scampering, exuberant and ultimately explosive free-jazz ramble “Piece for Ornette,” or contributing placid flute to the lengthy soundscape that opens “Everything That Lives Laments.” At the keys, meanwhile, he’s typically brilliant, especially on the rollicking gospel-fusion groove vehicle “Take Me Back” and “Rainbow,” a tender waltz written by his then-wife, Margot. On Haden’s “Song for Che,” he moves from percussion to soprano to piano, as the trio brings the piece from a fervent abstract boil to a stirring melodic climax.

Hank Shteamer

Suggestions
Home is Where the Heart Is cover

Home is Where the Heart Is

Tony Coe, Enrico Pieranunzi, Tina May
Village Mothership cover

Village Mothership

Whit Dickey, William Parker, Matthew Shipp
Cartography cover

Cartography

Arve Henriksen
Air Song cover

Air Song

Steve McCall, Fred Hopkins, Air, Henry Threadgill
Homescape cover

Homescape

Nguyên Lê, Dhafer Youssef, Paolo Fresu
Valta cover

Valta

Alamaailman Vasarat
Abstract cover

Abstract

The Joe Harriott Quartet
1961 cover

1961

Jimmy Giuffre, Paul Bley, Steve Swallow
Prezens cover

Prezens

Tom Rainey, David Torn, Craig Taborn, Tim Berne
Alive cover

Alive

Phronesis