Mysteries (album)

Mysteries is the fourth album on the Impulse! label by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett. Originally released in 1976, it features performances by Jarrett's 'American Quartet', which included Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden and Paul Motian with Guilherme Franco added on percussion.

Mysteries
Studio album by Keith Jarrett
Released	1976
Recorded	December 10, 1975
Studio	Generation Sound Studios, New York City
Genre	Jazz
Length	42:39
Label	Impulse!
Producer	Esmond Edwards
Keith Jarrett chronology
The Köln Concert (1975) Mysteries (1976) Arbour Zena (1975)

In October 2011, Shades was reissued with Mysteries in a single disc format titled Mysteries / Shades, as part of the Impulse! 2-on-1 series. Both albums were the product of the same recording sessions.

The album was included in the 1996 four disc Mysteries: The Impulse Years 1975-1976, a box-set which also included Jarrett's two final albums for Impulse, Byablue and Bop-Be.[1]

Reception

The AllMusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album four stars and said, "The Coltrane-ish 15-minute title track has passages of meditative beauty and others of listless torpor. For completists only."[2]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide	[3]

Writing for jazz.com, Ted Gioia gave the track "Everything That Lives Laments" a rating of 95/100 and praised it: "The opening section, played in a free tempo, takes on a funereal stateliness. The ensemble plays with great control and sensitivity, but the quality of sound Haden extracts from his bass deserves special mention. Then, shortly after the two-minute mark, the combo settles into a lilting groove over a quirky six-bar chord pattern, where what sounds like the start of the turnaround (because the listener is expecting an eight bar structure) is actually the return to the top of the form — a clever device that is very effectively employed here... this recording testifies that his American combo ranked among the finest jazz groups of the mid-1970s."[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Keith Jarrett.

1. "Rotation" – 11:03
2. "Everything That Lives Laments" – 10:04
3. "Flame" – 6:10
4. "Mysteries" – 15:22

• Mixed and mastered at Kendun Recorders[5]

Personnel

Musicians

• Keith Jarrett – piano, flute, percussion
• Dewey Redman – tenor saxophone, musette, percussion
• Charlie Haden – double bass
• Paul Motian – drums, percussion
• Guilherme Franco – percussion

Production

• Producer – Esmond Edwards
• Engineer – Tony May
• Art Director – Tom Wilkes
• Cover photograph – Keith Jarrett

References

1. "Mysteries - Impulse Years 1975-76 [Box Set" at amazon.com]
2. Ginell, R. Allmusic Review accessed September 15, 2011
3. Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 112. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
4. "Everything That Lives Laments" review at Jazz.com Archived 2012-09-22 at the Wayback Machine
5. "discogs.com". Retrieved 13 July 2012.