The Survivors' Suite

chronology
The Survivors' Suite
Keith Jarrett's studio album
Publication ; (s)	1977
Label (s)	ECM records
Format (s)	CD, LP
Genre (s)	jazz
running time	48:40
occupation	; Soprano saxophone , piano , bass recorder , celesta , Osi drum: Keith Jarrett ; Tenor saxophone , percussion: Dewey Redman ; Double bass : Charlie Haden ; Drums , percussion : Paul Motian ;
production	Manfred Eicher
Studio (s)	Recording studio Bauer , Ludwigsburg

The Survivors' Suite is a jazz album by Keith Jarrett , recorded in April 1976 and released in 1977 by ECM Records .

The album

Keith Jarrett's "American Quartet" was created in 1971 from the pianist's trio with bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Paul Motian , whose 1966 album Live Between the Exit Signs was the young Jarrett's debut album. The saxophonist Dewey Redman , who was added, came from Ornette Coleman’s circle, and in his playing in Keith Jarrett’s quartet he also used elements of free jazz ; but his connection to the hard swinging Texas tenor saxophone tradition remained even stronger. After Richard Cook and Brian Morton, the quartet "never reached the heights and the firm telepathic understanding of the 'European quartet' '(from Garbarek , Danielsson and Christensen ), but nevertheless showed a high degree of creative tension," which was evident in numerous studio- Albums for Atlantic and Impulse! Records like Morning of a Star , Birth , El Juicio (The Judgment) , Treasure Island and Byablue . During the last studio session of the quartet, the broad-based Survivors' Suite was created , some of which is based on ethnic music. In the studio, other instruments were sometimes recorded and overdubbed over the playing of the quartet.

The titles

Beginning (Jarrett) 27:12
Conclusion (Jarrett) 21:18

Appreciation

For Melody Maker , the Survivors' Suite was 1977 album of the year. In 1978 it received the German Record Prize . In their review, Cook and Morton describe it as a “masterpiece in which the quartet pulls together and every member is passionate about it and wholeheartedly”. In 1992, biographer Ian Carr came to the conclusion that the album presented the American quartet Jarretts with a "great best performance": "Process and product are one, and each of the musicians is totally focused on the music."

Literature / sources

Ian Carr : Keith Jarrett. The man and his music . GraftonBooks, London 1991, ISBN 0-246-13434-8 0-246-13434-8
Uwe Andresen: Keith Jarrett - his life, his music, his records . Gauting, Oreos (Collection Jazz) approx. 1985
Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD . 6th edition. Penguin, London 2002, ISBN 0-14-051521-6 .

Remarks

↑ after Andresen, p. 48 f.
↑ Morton & Cook in the article on Jarrett
↑ The last recordings of the formation can be found on the live album Eyes of the Heart , the recording of a concert in Bregenz in May 1976, which was only released by ECM in 1979. After Cook and Morton, this concert came close to being an “almost disaster”: the empty fourth page of the double album is to be understood almost symbolically; Redman contributed almost nothing to the musical happening; on the third side, Jarrett played alone. Still, it sold 108,000 times in a decade.
^ Carr, Jarrett, p. 85
^ Carr, Jarrett, p. 81

[1] ter Andresen, p. 48 f.

[2] Morton & Cook in the article on Jarrett

[3] The last recordings of the formation can be found on the live album Eyes of the Heart , the recording of a concert in Bregenz in May 1976, which was only released by ECM in 1979. After Cook and Morton, this concert came close to being an “almost disaster”: the empty fourth page of the double album is to be understood almost symbolically; Redman contributed almost nothing to the musical happening; on the third side, Jarrett played alone. Still, it sold 108,000 times in a decade.

[4] Carr, Jarrett, p. 85

[5] Carr, Jarrett, p. 81