Label: ECM
Personnel - Keith Jarrett: piano
After the sad news reporting that prolific pianist Keith Jarrett might not ever play again in public after two strokes suffered in 2018, we try to find solace in his discography. The double solo album Budapest Concert, his latest ECM release, was captured live at The Bela Bartok National Concert Hall in Budapest, Hungary, an inspiring country for him for several reasons. First of all, because of his appreciation for Bartok’s impressive music, and second because his maternal grandmother hailed from there. Following up last year’s Munich 2016, this is the second live-recording culled from his memorable 2016 tour.
Over the course of the album’s 14 tracks, we are sucked into his personal musical realm of free improvisation with classical and folk influences. At the end, he even grants us a couple of standards that are usually part of his concert repertoire - a slow-paced rubato interpretation of “It’s a Lonesome Old Town”, which also appeared on the previous recording, and a touching reading of “Answer Me My Love”, an originally German song that was recorded by Nat King Cole, Joni Mitchell and Gene Ammons.
His nimble finger movements whether interlock into pulsating cadences or separate melodic and harmonic threads, making them operate as logic juxtapositions. He does this through intense abstract commotions (Part I, Part IX), comfortable meditations with an occasional dreamy quality (Part II, Part XI), ever-moving routes (Part III), and engrossing rhythms underpinning lush textures (Part IV). “Part X” is a mix of the last two, contrasting with the endearing romantic touch of “Part V”, the unleashing tinge of bop on “Part VI”, the pop/folk coloring of “Part VII” or the inviting blues of “Part XII”.
No one expected this to be at the level of works like The Koln Concert or Solo Concerts: Bremen and Lausanne. And it’s not. Still, it’s Jarrett speaking his sophisticated language, totally immersed in his incontestable style.
Grade B+
Favorite Tracks:
04 - Part IV ► 07 - Part VII ► 10 - Part X