Keith Jarrett, the eminent American pianist, was born in Allentown, PA on this day 80 years ago. In celebration, ECM Records, his longtime label, has just released a new single from his final concert tour, which will soon be available as an album.
That album, New Vienna, is due out in just a few weeks, on May 30. It was recorded almost a decade ago in a setting with historic significance for classical music — the Great Hall of the Musikverein, whose first organ recital was given by Anton Bruckner. The Jarrett concert came during a European tour that has already yielded three previous albums on ECM: Munich 2016, Budapest Concert and Bordeaux Concert. The new single, which like the rest of the concert was spontaneously composed, is a ten-and-a-half-minute reverie, “Part V.”
There’s a luminous spirit of yearning in this performance, along with a slow-dawning discovery — the sense that Jarrett is gradually finding his way along a darkened path. (Listen for the series of subtle harmonic epiphanies that occur after the seven-minute mark: it’s the sound of consonant world-building.) One piece of the lore around Jarrett’s improvised solo recitals has to do with the moment-by-moment decisions that end up feeling like part of a larger design. This is a perfect example.
Not long after the 2016 European tour, Jarrett suffered a stroke, and then another, rendering him unable to perform. He has spoken candidly about his recovery, and been closely involved in approving the release of his material. Meanwhile, his legend only grows: earlier this year, we saw the release of a German film titled Köln 75, a dramatic retelling of the circumstances behind his most celebrated album, The Köln Concert.
ECM plans to release a 50th anniversary vinyl reissue of The Köln Concert this fall, and will further celebrate his 80th birthday with an LP boxed set titled At The Deer Head Inn – The Complete Recordings. This will include both albums Jarrett recorded with a trio at the beloved Poconos jazz haunt in 1992: At the Deer Head Inn, and a recent sequel, The Old Country, which WRTI announced, with an exclusive premiere, last year.
New Vienna will be released on May 30; preorder here. Tune in to Evening Jazz and Late Evening Jazz tonight to hear 80th birthday tributes to Keith Jarrett.
