Sleeper (Keith Jarrett album)

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Sleeper
Live album by Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielson and Jon Christensen

Publication
(s)

July 13, 2012

admission

April 16, 1979

Label (s) Edition of Contemporary Music (ECM)

Format (s)

CD

Genre (s)

jazz

Title (number)

7th

running time

106: 53

occupation Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Palle Danielson and Jon Christensen

production

Manfred Eicher

Location (s)

Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo

chronology
Rio
(2012) 		Sleeper Somewhere
(2013)

Sleeper is a jazz album by the American pianist Keith Jarrett , which he recorded together with the Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek , the Swedish bassist Palle Danielsson and the Norwegian drummer Jon Christensen . The ensemble is also known as Keith Jarrett's European Quartet or Belonging Quartet . The album was recorded on April 16, 1979 in Tokyo at the Nakano Sun Plaza Hotel. The release by ECM Records took place only 33 years later on July 13, 2012. The title of the album alludes to this.

The album

The album has a total of seven tracks, spread over two CDs, with a total playing time of 106 minutes and 53 seconds. All seven tracks on the album ( Personal Mountains , Innocence , So Tender , Oasis , Chant Of The Soil , Prism and New Dance ) are improvisations on compositions by Keith Jarrett, which he composed for the European Quartet . Two of the tracks - Prism and So Tender - are also interpreted by Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio in later years .

Keith Jarrett (2003)

In his review for the features section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Ulrich Olshausen provided a very clear description of the individual titles on the album: “The first piece, ' Personal Mountains ', twenty-one minutes long ..., may initially be for a lot, if not everything stand what defines the cosmos of these artists. The edgy, beautiful theme with its broken rock rhythm is immediately transformed into a rather wild piano improvisation, which ingeniously deals with the harmonic, but also melodic specifications of the composed part. The solo is bursting with energy, ideas and technical brilliance. But what Jarrett does under the ensuing solo by Garbarek is almost even more captivating, insane and unusual: he constantly feeds the soloist with further substances on the subject and thus creates an unbelievably 'logical' density of this total work of art of planning and improvisation. ... Later he leaves Garbarek alone, and you can fully adjust to this tone of the tenor saxophone, in which sensuality, jubilation and pain demonstrate their depths so wonderfully. Afterwards, the rhythm group bass-drums sets itself up powerfully with its complex syncopated, at the same time drive-intensive duet, and for the last seven minutes the piece turns into a gentle slow waltz in which poetry, long notes and delicate garland play are completely new Establish rule. In the further course of this phenomenally creative work of art we experience ' Innocence ', which could be a kind of surrealistic chorale arrangement in its lovely singing and not least due to the otherworldly tone of Garbarek's soprano saxophone. Or ' So Tender ', in whose ecstatic structure Garbarek advances to Coltrane's 'sheets of sound' as the highest means of expression. ... The 'Oasis', which lasts almost half an hour, is a completely different world. Apart from Palle Danielsson, everyone here also plays folkloric percussion instruments, preferably small drums, Garbarek also a small flute and later his two saxophones. A marvel of atmospheric developments, African mysticism and polyrhythm is this narrative-intensive fairy tale without words, on a journey between contemplation and physical desire to move. As an encore, the quartet played the piece ... 'New Dance', which Jarrett once characterized in a conversation with 'vitality and love for life'. "

Jan Garbarek (2007)

Ulrich Olshausen leaves the titles Chant of the Soil and Prism unmentioned . Phil Johnson of The Independent is particularly fond of these two titles . He writes: "All seven tracks are interesting, but So Tender and Chant of the Soil are wonderful: .. Dream music with incredible drive, sensitivity and, yes, funk." Susanne Westerholt is also enthusiastic about the album and the musicians in the online music magazine when she writes: “Jarrett's ensemble could actually have been called 'Northern European Quartet', because its musicians were all from Scandinavia. Although it only existed for a few years, it is considered one of the most influential ensembles in terms of contemporary jazz. From a European point of view, the outstanding person of this quartet was clearly Jan Garbarek. Full of energy, wit and enthusiasm for improvisation, Garbarek drives the quartet anew with his vibrating saxophone playing and, for example, gives new impulses to the course of the game through unexpected rhythmic and melodic turns, for example in the piece Chant of the Soil , in which he trills able to create a shimmering, floating acoustic atmosphere. The ideas seem to be gushing out of him. Jarrett's compositions seem tailor-made for Garbarek; they are full of lyrical passages and leave enough room for improvisation. If Garbarek is more familiar with his spherical, contemplative sound images from his later days, you will get to know the saxophonist from a completely different side: as daring, almost daring. Garbarek's later affinity for the lyric, on the other hand, is already evident in this concert.

Palle Danielsson (2008)

The often quoted good rapport between Garbarek and Jarrett can also be heard in this concert. As a band leader, Keith Jarrett understands how to keep the balance between leading the ensemble and stepping back in order to leave room for the other players and be inspired by them. The piece Personal Mountains ... shows the musical texture typical of Jarrett: a game with alternating harmonies, which cascade-like repetitions of the smallest melodic and rhythmic motifs build up tensions, dissolve harmoniously in the next moment, followed immediately by a new harmonic tension cascade to build. With the original musical texture and his technical brilliance, Jarrett creates a lively, energetic atmosphere.

With Palle Danielsson on double bass and the drummer and percussionist Jon Christensen, two top-class musicians complete the quartet. Danielsson later played with the greats of jazz, such as Bill Evans , Michel Petrucciani or Albert Mangelsdorff , and Christensen with jazz greats such as Rainer Brüninghaus or Thomasz Stanko . Both musicians do not appear prominently in the quartet like Garbarek, for example. Nevertheless: they contribute significantly to the tonal amalgam that makes this quartet and this concert so special. "

Keith Jarrett himself commented on his collaboration with Garbarek, Danielson and Christensen in the 1970s as follows: “I myself, as a so-called leader, wish very, very often to merge with the other three musicians and develop the constellation (the 'Belonging 'Band) allows me to do that because nobody here fights against the other. Everyone just tries to make the whole thing transparent and clear and to feel good. ”And Jan Garbarek also said in the liner notes on his Selected Recordings (ECM, 2002) about the collaboration with Jarrett and the European Quartet :“ It was an extremely important time for me because, as a young and relatively inexperienced musician, I could work so closely with someone who was as musically advanced as Keith. I've benefited tremendously from it. His touch, his chord progressions, the ever-present rhythm, the surprising melodic turns, the ability to let his piano sing in such a unique way ... Complexity and simplicity as well as abstraction and naturalness went hand in hand with him ... I had to then be careful not to freeze me in awe of him. Sometimes I didn't want to get involved in the things Keith, Palle and Jon were playing. I just loved listening to them! But there is one thing that stuck in my mind in particular: that was the way we played melodies in unison. In fact, I felt completely in tune with the way Keith made music in general ... it was like I belonged ... "

Nakano Sun Plaza, Tokyo

The album Sleeper is after Belonging (recorded and released by ECM 1974), My Song (recorded 1977 and released by ECM 1978), Nude Ants (recorded and released by ECM 1979) and Personal Mountains (recorded 1979 and released by ECM 1989) the fifth album in the very small discography of the European Quartet . While the albums Belonging and My Song are studio recordings of the, the three albums Personal Mountains , Sleeper and Nude Ants are live recordings. Two of the albums - Personal Mountains and Sleeper - are from their last joint tour in Japan and Nude Ants was recorded in New York at the Village Vanguard .

Among the three live albums of the European Quartet expressed Wolfgang Sandner , the German biographer of Keith Jarrett, as follows: "One gets the impression ..., Keith Jarrett that particularly well in the company of Jan Garbarek feeling with which he exchanges effortlessly and enters into a constant dialogue, apparently freed from the responsibility of musical solo efforts. After all, there are five years between Belonging and these three recordings, during which Jarrett amazed the world with monumental solo recordings such as the Cologne Concert and the Sun Bear Concerts , with composition commissions for symphonic ensembles and spectacular excursions to the Benedictine Abbey of Ottobeuren to the baroque organ by Karl Joseph Riepp . The three recordings from 1979 also seem like another euphoric rebellion before the final departure of the 'European Quartet', which one would have wished it had stayed together longer. Personal Mountains was recorded live in Tokyo in 1979, but was not released until ten years later, probably because Jarrett and Eicher had previously released the live recording Nude Ants from the Village Vanguard, half of which contains the same pieces, of course in different versions. The album Sleeper, on the other hand, which was created on the same occasion as Personal Mountains , essentially combines the material of the other two recordings, but it was only released in 2012. So in this case you have the same piece twice, sometimes even three times, in different versions from the same year and you can get an idea of ​​the almost unlimited improvisational skills of all four musicians, especially Keith Jarrett, like hardly any other. If you didn't know that it's the same piece, and if you could abstract from the unchanged formal framework, then the recording of Personal Mountains on the recording of the same name and the version of the same piece on Sleeper would have to appear like two different works, at least as far as they are concerned improvisational playback concerns. They are didactic pieces of the stupendous art of variation. ”And Ian Carr , the English biographer of Keith Jarrett, writes about the importance of the European Quartet in his 1991 biography Keith Jarrett: The Man And His Music :“ The influence of this quartet is diametrically opposed to its short-lived nature. Musicians of all genres have been influenced and inspired by Keith Jarrett's work in general, but also by this quartet in particular. The European quartet disbanded when it reached the zenith of its creativity. "

The contributors

The musicians and their instruments

The production staff

The playlist

  • Keith Jarrett: Rio (ECM 2290/2291 (370 5570))

CD 1

  1. Personal Mountains - 9:12 pm
  2. Innocence - 10:47
  3. Sun tender - 13:27

CD 2

  1. Oasis - 28:13
  2. Chant of the Soil - 14:52
  3. Prism - 11:15
  4. New Dance - 7:07

The reception

The reception of the album in the German-speaking media is very positive:

Peter Rüedi writes in Weltwoche : “The music is of such an integrated density, an exuberant, open joy in playing and at the same time compactness that a comparison with the known versions shows the spontaneous freshness and inventiveness in an exemplary manner. Pure presence. Jarrett monograph Carr is right. The importance of this quartet was, no: it is still inversely proportional to its short life. "Susanne Westerholt comments in the Online Musik Magazin :" It's kind of good to listen to this music. In view of the currently rather subdued and reserved mood, in general and in the music, one is amazed at the intensity of the energy and the spirit of optimism that lies in this music. The recording is undoubtedly priceless; it shows the 'European Quartet' at the zenith of its creative power. It would certainly not have been wrong to release this pearl of jazz as a full concert recording a little earlier. ”Jazz-fun.de says:“ The live document of a great band at the zenith of their ability ... 'Sleeper' is the surprise album of the summer and continues the series of successful releases of this exceptional line-up ... impressively. "Jazzecho finds:" These live recordings slumbered for 33 years ... in the sound archives. ... And you've never heard this inspired ensemble better! ”And the magazine Stereo evaluates:“ The 33-year-old recording from the concert hall of the Nakano Sun Hotel in Tokyo can safely be called a jewel. ”

The reception in the English-language media is extensive and also exclusively positive:

John Fordham awards five out of five stars in The Guardian and writes: “This exciting double album is a previously unreleased concert from Tokyo 1979 and you can hear Keith Jarrett's 'European Quartet' with Jan Garbarek on saxophone and flute, his Norwegian compatriot Jon Christensen on drums and the Swedish bass player Palle Danielsson. The band recorded their last live album, Personal Mountains , on the same tour - this album brings together many of the same vibrant Jarrett compositions and is the better album set. But you don't have to know that story to hear the band's exuberance over Jarrett's teasing, hard-rocking accompaniment, Garbarek's gruff strength, and the energy and freedom of the rhythm section. "For Mike Hobart in the Financial Times , it's" an additional must-have to the Jarrett canon. ”For Christian Genzel of Allmusic ,“ Sleeper ... is another remarkable document of the creative interplay between these four musicians. ”Stephen Graham finds in Jazzwise :“ Even if the band never reunites, this is not just a memento of a group that haven't made many albums, it has depth, is unsettlingly intense at times with prolonged improvisation on compelling topics. "John Kelman writes in his review at All About Jazz :" When Jarrett, Garbarek, Danielsson and Christensen are now in completely different places, they remain indelibly shaped by the experiences they have shared - and the music they have e done - in this very special and unforgettable group. ”John Eyles says on BBC Online:“ Sleeper must now be considered the best live album of this quartet. The interplay of Jarrett's piano with Garbarek's wind instruments is very inspiring. They complement each other perfectly ... The result is a very varied album, destined to be one of the gems in Jarrett's great discography. "Also for Peter Quinn of theartsdesk.com:" Sleeper ... is an unforeseen jewel in the extensive discography of the pianist. "The New York Times says:" Mr. Jarrett plays with wonderful precision, even when he plays himself in ecstasy and Jan Garbarek exudes dazzling serenity on the tenor saxophone. And the stormy flow of the rhythm group with Palle Danielsson on bass and Jon Christensen on drums would have deserved a prize alone if it weren't so inseparable from the whole. "And David Weininger says in the Boston Globe :" These are flashes of light from this band on the Peak of their skills, which raise the hope that more such gemstones are waiting to be discovered. "

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sleeper at www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 16, 2017 .
  2. ↑ a b Sleeper at www.discogs.com. Retrieved April 16, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Sleeper at www.faz.net. Retrieved April 24, 2017 .
  4. ↑ Sleeper at The Independent, quoted from www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved on April 24, 2017 : "All seven tracks are interesting, but" So Tender "and" Chant of the Soil "are miraculous: out-there dream music of incredible drive, sensitivity and, yes, funk."
  5. ↑ Sleeper at www.omm.de. Retrieved April 24, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Keith Jarrett, quoted from www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 : “I myself, as a so-called leader, wish very, very often to blend with the other three musicians and that situation [the Belonging band] allows that, because no one is fighting with anyone else. Everyone is just trying to make the thing transparent and clear and feeling good. "
  7. ^ Jan Garbarek's Selected Recordings at www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Jan Garbarek, quoted from www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 : “It was a crucial time for me as a young and relatively inexperienced musician to work closely with someone so musically advanced as Keith, and I feel I benefited tremendously from it. His touch, his chord movements, the always present rhythm, the surprising melodic turns, the ability to make the piano sing in such a unique way, complexity and simplicity, abstraction and earthiness hand in hand ... I was more or less in awe the whole time, not always wanting to join in with what was going on between Keith, Palle and Jon, I just enjoyed listening to them so much! The one thing that stands out in my memory, though, was the way we would play melodies in unison, in fact I felt very much a sense of unison with the way Keith made music as a whole, as if belonging ... "
  9. ↑ Belonging at www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 .
  10. ↑ My Song at www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Nude Ants at www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 .
  12. ↑ Personal Mountains at www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Keith Jarrett's albums at www.jazzdisco.org. Retrieved April 24, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Wolfgang Sandner: Keith Jarrett. A biography . Rowohlt, Berlin 2015, ISBN 978-3-644-11731-0 .
  15. ↑ Ian Carr: Keith Jarrett. The Man and His Music . Paladin, London 1992, ISBN 0-586-09219-6 : “The influence of this quartet is out of all proportion to its brief life. Musicians on all instruments have been influenced and inspired by Keith Jarrett's work in general, but also by this quartet in particular. The European Quartet ceased to exist when it was at the height of its creativity. "
  16. ↑ Sleeper in Die Weltwoche, quoted from www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 16, 2017 .
  17. ↑ Sleeper at www.omm.de. Retrieved April 16, 2017 .
  18. ↑ Sleeper at www.jazz-fun.de. Retrieved April 16, 2017 .
  19. ↑ Sleeper at www.jazzecho.de. Retrieved April 16, 2017 .
  20. ↑ Sleeper in Stereo magazine, quoted from www.jpc.ce. Retrieved April 16, 2017 .
  21. ^ Sleeper at www.theguardian.com. Retrieved April 16, 2017 : “This enthralling double album is a previously unreleased concert set from Tokyo in 1979 and features Keith Jarrett's 'European quartet' of Jan Garbarek on saxes and flute, fellow Norwegian Jon Christensen on drums and Swedish bassist Palle Danielsson. The band made their last live album, Personal Mountains, on the same trip - this one covers many of the same vivid Jarrett originals, and is the better set. But you don't need to know that history to hear the band's exuberance over Jarrett's teasing yet hard-rocking vamps, Garbarek's brusque power and the rhythm section's energy and freedom. "
  22. ↑ Sleeper in Financial Times, quoted from www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 : "A must-have add-on to the Jarrett canon."
  23. ↑ Sleeper at www.allmusic.com. Retrieved on April 16, 2017 : "Sleeper offers another noteworthy document of the creative interplay between these four musicians. >>"
  24. ↑ Sleeper at Jazzwise, quoted from www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 : "The band may never reunite, so this is not just a memento of a group that didn't record much, but it's also deep, sometimes disturbingly intense, and always involving long form improvising built around compelling themes . In the loneliness of a big city concert hall this release is a marvel and a reminder of all that's visionary about Jarrett. "
  25. ↑ Sleeper at www.allaboutjazz.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 : "If Jarrett, Garbarek, Danielsson and Christensen are now in very different places, they remain indelibly marked by the experiences they shared — and the music they made — in this very special and unforgettable group."
  26. ↑ Sleeper at BBC Online, quoted from www.ecmrecords.com. April 24, 2017, accessed on April 24, 2017 : “Sleeper must now be considered the first choice live album by this quartet. The pairing of Jarrett's piano with Garbarek's reeds is an inspired one. They complement each other perfectly… The end result is a richly varied album that seems destined to be one of the gems of Jarrett's vast discography. "
  27. ^ Sleeper at www.theartsdesk.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 : "Sleeper really is an unforeseen jewel in the pianist's capacious discography."
  28. ^ Sleeper at The New York Times, quoted from www.ecmrecords.com. Retrieved April 24, 2017 : “Mr. Jarrett plays with imperious precision even when he's reaching for the ecstatic, and Jan Garbarek exudes iridescent poise on tenor saxophone. As for the rhythm team of Palle Danielsson on bass and Jon Christensen on drums, their turbulent flow would be worth the price of admission alone, if it weren't so inseparable from the whole. "
  29. ↑ Sleeper at The Boston Globe, quoted from www.ecmrecords.com. Accessed April 24, 2017 : "These are flashes of this band at its very best, raising hopes that more such gems lie waiting to be discovered."