Keith Jarrett
WHISPER NOT
(ECM)
Jarrett went through a much written-about debilitating illness that
he says forced him to re-evaluate his approach to melody when he recorded last
year’s critically acclaimed solo piano The Melody at Night, with You — an
elemental conception that focused on the song itself because he didn’t have the
energy to do anything more. Now he’s back with his longstanding “standards” trio
of bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette on this double-CD concert
recording, and though he plays plenty of piano here (no one would argue that
he’s run out of energy), you might wonder whether the bebop didn’t get thrown
out with the bath water. Not that Jarrett doesn’t play with bop velocity on
chestnuts like “Bouncing with Bud,” “Groovin’ High,” and the title track, but
bebop’s definitive push-pull tension, the alternating current of the music’s
triplet-based phrasing, goes slack. There’s plenty to admire here in the
richness of Jarrett’s harmonies, his left-hand/right-hand independence, even the
occasional boppish double-time runs. In fact, in its own way the playing is
rather beautiful. But the edges have been smoothed off, the driving swing that
makes jazz explosive at any tempo.
-- Jon Garelick
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