Back with a Vengeance

Losing the ability to create is the worst tragedy that can befall an artist. It is worse than death. Even those that recover are frequently so demoralized that they never regain their talents or alter the flow of their creativity in fundamental ways. When Keith Jarrett succumbed to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - a severely debilitating condition whose causes are poorly understood and for which no cure exists and the few treatments available are useless as often as not - some have quickly written him off as a musician that will never play again, while others held their breath in anticipation of what might emerge were he to recover. When he released The Melody at Night, with You early last year after at least two years of being unable so much as to walk up to a piano, much less play it, it was clear that Jarrett was back but that he was a changed man. Melody was a beautiful album, but it was such a far cry from anything he had done previously that we essentially had a new pianist on our hands, albeit a good one. Gone were the stratospheric improvisational flights and the blend of tumultuousness and calculation that was uniquely Jarrett's, replaced by a collection of standards so devoid of embellishments as to be striking in their musical and emotional nakedness.

This was Keith Jarrett we were dealing with, however - a musician who had been doing what he did for so long and with such passion that it was not surprising that he did not give up easily. Apparently, his recovery progressed quickly, and by as early as the middle of last year he was fit not only to reconvene his legendary working trio of Gary Peacock (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums), but to travel to Paris to play a spectacular concert which we now have in the form of the two-CD set Whisper Not (ECM, 2000).

Passing hasty judgment on the basis of Melody, some have claimed that Whisper Not, although excellent, lacks the energy of the previous Trio recordings for supposedly obvious reasons. This is simply not true - the energy level of the album is exceptionally high, as is the level of creativity and inspiration, almost as if Jarrett is unleashing everything that has been pent up inside him, defying nature and making up for lost time. True to to the tenets under which the Trio was formed almost twenty years ago, the album is a collection of standards, most of them well-known, but, also true to the Trio tradition, the musicians transform each one and make it their own. From the very beginning, Jarrett's excitement to be playing again with his bandmates is obvious - there is a joy and bounce in his playing. He has lost none of the inventiveness or technique of the old days. Tune after tune - "Bouncing with Bud," "Groovin' High," "Sandu," "Conception" - he weaves fascinating and sometimes dizzying spirals of notes, frequently at breakneck tempos, but always clearly articulated and perfectly timed.

The recording is far from being a shred-fest, however. Jarrett's almost magical use of space has survived intact, and his feel for the mood and spirit of a tune is as good as ever. On Benny Golson's title track - a dark, minor-key number - his playing is melancholy but not maudlin, and his solo is appropriately sparse. On Strayhorn's "Chelsea Bridge," the intervals between the notes mean as much, if not more, than the notes themselves. On Bud Powell's "Hallucinations" the effect is perhaps the most poignant - the spaces separate dense clumps of notes, setting them into stark relief like a sculptor's chisel.

Peacock and DeJohnette are obviously happy to be back in their element as well. This trio is unequaled in their ability to communicate and respond to each other's ideas instantly, and Whisper Not rewards the listener with an almost superhuman amount of collective musical thinking. When comping, Peacock responds to Jarrett as only a musical soulmate of twenty years can, and during his solos, Jarrett returns the favor by noodling behind him in the most delightful ways. Peacock's solos are in perfect accord with the mood of each song - he is energetic when he needs to be ("Bouncing with Bud," "Wrap Your Troubles in Your Dreams"), lyrical and emotional when that is called for ("Prelude to a Kiss"). The value of his playing lies in rhythmic diversity as much as in the melodic one - he is immensely inventive with his shifts and syncopations, yet he never loses track of time. Interestingly, a couple of times ("What Is This Thing Called Love," "Hallucinations") he chooses to walk the entire solo, reminding me of the way Larry Gales used to play in Monk's quartet. This surprised me at first, but only added diversity and interest to the record in the grand scheme of things.

DeJohnette is unexpectedly understated throughout the record - this may be his most subtle outing yet - but that does not make his playing any less effective. His cymbals shimmer beautifully on the thoughtful reading of "'Round Midnight," and the one solo he takes on "Conception" is right on the money. Together, Peacock and DeJohnette have got to be one of the tightest rhythm sections of today's jazz (my enthusiasm is tempting me to say "of all time").

Judging by the sound of the crowd, which rewards the musicians with multiple standing ovations, the album has undergone no editing or resequencing - the listener gets the concert as it happened, each tune appearing in the order it was performed, with each disc being a set and the last two numbers as encores, and that is yet another thing that makes Whisper Not so remarkable. A description of the sort I just gave is frequently accompanied by the phrase "warts and all," except there really are no warts here. The entire package clocks in at a smidgen under two hours, but it is remarkably easy to get through the entire thing in a single sitting, much like the lucky Parisians who got to experience this music first-hand.

Keith Jarrett is obviously back, and the natural reaction is to hope that Whisper Not is an indication of things to come, but even if he never releases another record, it will stand as a fitting monument to his genius.

***
Personnel: Keith Jarrett (piano), Gary Peacock (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums)

Tracks: Bouncing with Bud; Whisper Not; Groovin' High; Chelsea Bridge; Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams; 'Round Midnight; Sandu; What Is This Thing Called Love; Conception; Prelude to a Kiss; Hallucinations; All My Tomorrows; Poinciana; When I Fall in Love