Paris Concert (Keith Jarrett album)
Paris Concert is a live solo piano album by American pianist Keith Jarrett, recorded on October 17, 1988 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris and released by ECM Records in April 1990.[1]
| Paris Concert | ||||
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | 1990, April [1] | |||
| Recorded | 1988, October 17 [2] | |||
| Venue | Salle Pleyel, Paris (France) | |||
| Genre | solo piano improvisations | |||
| Length | 50:17 | |||
| Label | ECM Records [ECM 1401] | |||
| Producer | Manfred Eicher | |||
| Keith Jarrett chronology | ||||
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| Keith Jarrett solo piano chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | |
1988 solo piano concerts
According to www.keithjarrett.org, in 1988 Jarrett toured Europe two times (June, October) offering 6 solo concerts:[5]. Paris concert was recorded during the second 1988 European mini-tour.
- June 16 - Istanbul (Turkey) during Istanbul International Jazz Festival
- June 20 - Patras (Greece) during Patras International Festival.
- June 23 - Palermo (Italy)
- October 17 - Paris (France)
- October 22 - Brussels (Belgium) during the Belga Jazz Festival
- October 24 - Madrid (Spain) during Festival de Jazz de Madrid
Reception
A usually enthusiastic reviewer, Richard Lehnert at Stereophile states that "this is Jarrett's most satisfying solo outing since 1982's Concerts" and gave the album the "Recording of November 1990" award. As for the recording technique and results he states that:
"The gorgeously deep, lush recording is, of course, closely multi-miked, with perhaps even some added reverb. But producer Manfred Eicher does this sort of thing at least as well as did John Culshaw, and probably better than anyone working today. I have no complaints, even if the piano is 12' wide" [6]
Despite a 4 out of 5 stars rating, a less enthusiastic Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell states that "Jarrett pulls further away from the old rousing (and thoroughly American) gospel, blues and folk roots of earlier concerts toward a more abstract concept" and that "[his] virtuosic abilities are never in doubt, and he rarely flaunts his technique for its own sake, but one senses that the inspiration level is down; one doesn't come out of the CD all charged up as with many earlier solo concerts."[3]
Track listing
The first track on the album is a characteristic lenghty 38-minutes solo improvisation entitled "October 17, 1988". The second track is a performance of "The Wind", a ballad by American jazz composers Russ Freeman and Jerry Gladstone, the first time that Jarrett included composed works by anyone else in any of his solo piano live albums. Finally, the third track is an improvised C Major blues which would become a trademark in future solo concerts.
- All music by Keith Jarrett except as indicated.
Total effective playing time: 48:33 (the album contains 1:44 applause approximately)
Personnel
- Keith Jarrett – piano
Technical Personnel
- Peter Laenger, Andreas Neubronner - Recording Engineers
- Jean-Pierre Larcher - Photography
- Barbara Wojirsch - Cover Design and Layout
- Manfred Eicher - Production
References
- ECM Records Keith Jarrett: Paris concert accessed May 2020
- Keith Jarrett discography, Paris concert accessed May 2020
- Ginell, Richard S. (2011). "Paris Concert - Keith Jarrett | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
- Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 768. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
- Keith Jarrett 1988 live concerts accessed May 13, 2020
- Lehnert, R. (November 1990)"Recording of November 1990: Paris Concert", Stereophile, accessed May 15, 2020