Keith Jarrett heads quartet of new jazz albums to die for

ECM has released some late 2019 recordings which show why this German prestige label is one to cherish when it comes to top-notch jazz.

Pianist Keith Jarrett has released his Munich 2016 concert on the ECM record label.

Keith Jarrett is the undisputed thoroughbred of the stable and he has another of his stunning solo in-the-moment concerts – this one recorded in Munich in 2016 – out now, alongside a lovely set with his trio of bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, After The Fall, a generous 1 hour and 46 minute offering of 12 standards performed live in a 1998 concert in New Jersey marking Jarrett’s return to the stage after battling chronic fatigue syndrome.

The opening track, The Masquerade is Over, has been covered both vocally and instrumentally by a cavalcade of star performers over eight decades but few like the wonderful 15-plus minutes the trio dedicates to it. It sets the seal on two magnificent sets to follow.

Munich 2016 starts with a 12-part seamless improvisation. Here Jarrett is at the height of his powers, each section complementing what goes before and after in an uncanny way. The disc is rounded off by three lovely treatments of standards, including the Frank Sinatra hit It’s A Lonesome Old Town and Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg’s Somewhere Over The Rainbow.

ECLECTIC

Another star of the ECM stable is American guitar guru Bill Frisell – one of those musicians for whom one genre is just not enough. His mainstream jazz roots are well represented on Epistrophy, a live recording with bassist Thomas Newman with whom he appeared in Sydney last year at Jazz at the Con.

The two display a freakish synchronicity as they range over eclectic material which includes John Barry’s Theme from Goldfinger, Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life and folk classics including Red River Valley and Wild Flower.

But the highlights are the two Thelonius Monk classics Epistrophy and Pannonica.

Frisell also has a new release on the Blue Note label, Harmony, which features the beautiful vocals of Petra Haden, daughter of the late great bassist Charlie Haden, with regular collaborator cellist Hank Roberts and bassist Luke Bergman. As the name implies there are some gorgeous vocal harmonies on a selection of Frisell original compositions mixed in with folk standards like Hard Times, a very different treatment of Lush Life and a delightfully fresh take on the Lerner-Loewe My Fair Lady classic On The Street Where You Live.

Also on the jazz side comes Three Crowns, the second album from Polish saxophonist Maciej Obara and his quartet of fellow Pole pianist Dominik Wania and Norwegian drummer Gard Nilssen and bassist Ole Morten Vagan.

This follow-up to the excellent Unloved album features six Obara originals alongside readings of works by the Polish classical composer Henrik Mikolaj Gorecki, whose family encouraged the jazzman to do the improvisations.

This is top class jazz.

All four albums are available from Birdland Records.