Recorded a bare week before the wider ranging, double album Tribute (ECM 1420/21) In Norway finds Jarrett resisting any possible temptation that there may have been to dig into Norwegian melody. There’s not a trace of Edvard Grieg or Sparre Olsen here: this is as straight a jazz set as Jarrett has recorded in recent years, shorn of both the dancing modal originals which sparked Tribute and the sort of pedal-point interludes with which he sometimes stretches out a standard to tension-inducing breadth and depth.
Jarrett completists will note that a fair portion of this beautifully recorded live session duplicates the titles on Tribute, but various differences in interpretation certainly justify the release. Peacock and DeJohnette are as one with the pianist, caught here at the top of his form – and seated at what sounds like a particularly good piano. The only question is: just how many Keith Jarrett Standards releases does your collection need?
Discography
All Of You; Little Girl Blue; Just In Time; Old Folks; Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing; Dedicated To You; I Hear A Rhapsody; How About You? (73.27)
Keith Jarrett (p); Gary Peacock (b); Jack DeJohnette (d). Konserthus, Oslo, October 7, 1989.
(ECM 1542)
