Facing You

Facing You is the first solo piano album recorded by pianist Keith Jarrett, the first of his voluminous collection to be produced by Manfred Eicher and his first work to be released by ECM Records. It features eight solo piano pieces (improvised and/or composed) and it was recorded in a studio.[1] It also marked the beginning of Jarrett's innovative and successful career in the solo piano spontaneous and improvised performance and it constitutes a landmark in his fruitful association with ECM Records.

Facing You
Studio album by
Keith Jarrett
Released1972, March [1]
Recorded1971, November 10
StudioArne Bendiksen studio, Oslo
Genrepiano improvisations
Length47:37
LabelECM
[ECM 1017]
ProducerManfred Eicher
Keith Jarrett chronology
Birth
(1971)		 Facing You
(1972)		 Expectations
(1972)
Keith Jarrett solo piano chronology
Facing You
(1971)		 Solo Concerts: Bremen/Lausanne
(1973)

The album was recorded in Oslo (Norway) on November 10th, 1971, one day after a concert performance with the Miles Davis Septet in the same city.[2] It was released in 1972 and has been reissued many times in different formats, including vinyl.[3]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Michael G. Nastos awarded the album 4½ stars, stating, "A remarkable effort that reveals more and more with each listen, this recording has stood the test of time, and is unquestionably a Top Three recording in Keith Jarrett's long and storied career.".[4] The review also states that:

Facing You is one of the most important recordings in contemporary jazz for several reasons, aside from being beautifully conceived and executed by pianist Keith Jarrett. It is a hallmark recording of solo piano in any discipline, a signature piece in the early ECM label discography, a distinct departure from mainstream jazz, a breakthrough for Jarrett, and a studio prelude for his most famous solo project to follow, The Köln Concert.[4]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz[6]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide[7]
Tom HullB+ ()[8]

Aftermath and Legacy

In 2000, in an interview with Terry Gross, Keith Jarrett explained how the idea of long solo piano concerts began: [9]

"It started out maybe as a result of recording 'Facing You', I can’t remember. But it started out, I remember, at the Heidelberg Jazz Festival, where I was supposedly, I wasn’t very well-known, I guess. And I came out and did a solo thing. And it was tunes, but I started to connect them somehow. Like, I’d have these transitional parts that connected everything. And then that somehow just moved slowly into the expanded solo concert, where there are no songs whatsoever and everything is improvised on the spot."

Track listing
  1. "In Front" – 10:09
  2. "Ritooria" – 5:57
  3. "Lalene" – 8:39
  4. "My Lady, My Child" – 7:24
  5. "Landscape for Future Earth" – 3:36
  6. "Starbright" – 5:07
  7. "Vapallia" – 3:57
  8. "Semblence" – 3:02
All compositions by Keith Jarrett

Personnel

Keith Jarrett – piano

Technical Personnel
  • Jan Erik Kongshaug - Recording Engineer
  • Danny Michael - Photography
  • Barbara and Burkhart Wojirsch - Cover Design and Layout
  • Manfred Eicher - Production
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References
  1. ECM Records Keith Jarrett: Facing you accessed May 2020
  2. keithjarrett.org Miles Davis Septet in Oslo (Norway), November 9, 1971 accessed May 2020.
  3. Audiophile Audition (August 2018) Keith Jarrett – Facing You – ECM Records accessed May 2020
  4. Nastos, M. Allmusic Review accessed September 9, 2011
  5. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  6. Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 768. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  7. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. pp. 112. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
  8. Hull, Tom (28 February 2018). "Streamnotes". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  9. Terry Gross (September 2000) Jazz great Keith Jarrett discusses living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), accessed May 2020
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