This week's Jazz releases reviewed
KEITH JARRETT
Yesterdays ECM *****
This straight-ahead, bop-flavoured 2001 concert recording by the "Standards" trio, with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette, is an exhilarating example of what can be done without venturing into the unknown. Apart from Jarrett's spontaneous piano intro, built on a lovely motif, to a gorgeous Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, nothing's outside the pale. A nod to an early piano style on You Took Advantage of Meis just an affectionate gesture, yet the trio repeatedly dig fresh inspiration from an old idiom and venerable material; pieces such as Strollin', Shaw 'nuff, Scrapple from the Apple, A Sleepin' Beeand a flowing Stella by Starlightswing compulsively, and with a real sense of enjoyment. As for ballads, the delicate dynamics of Yesterdaysand You've Changedare full of the rapt beauty you get when Jarrett (and the trio) are in the zone.
JÜRGEN FRIEDRICH
Pollock Pirouet *****
There's an alluring sense of discovery about the trio of Friedrich (piano), John Hébert (bass) and Tony Moreno (drums). The group, a serendipitous accident, continues its exciting chemistry on this second Pirouet album, which, despite a hard-swinging, cogent opener, Drift, and much that is poetic, spare and reflective, has an authoritatively handled range of mood and colour. The trio's interaction is also marked by an intuitive feel for when a performance is complete. The dark- hued Samarkand, a wonderfully fluid Ripple, the interaction out of the brief theme for Billy No Matesor Friedrich's lovely Over, the musical storytelling of Flauschangriff– all shun superfluous gesture. It's a restraint that applies also to three improv interludes and, especially, to the only non-original, Round Midnight, which pulls off the difficult feat of combining respect with individuality. www.pirouetrecords. com
ERNESTINE ANDERSON
A Song for You HighNote ***
Standards, a singer, tenor and rhythm suggests the comfort of the familiar. But Anderson's smoky, lived-in voice, full of magisterial experience, makes most other singers sound like gelded choirboys. With her are people steeped in this music – Houston Person (tenor), Lafayette Harris Jr (piano), Chip Jackson (bass) and Willie Jones III (drums) – and it shows in the emotional seamlessness of their work. Anderson doesn't so much transform these old songs (although Skylarkis filled with a longing that isn't remotely pastoral) as re-animate them. She just pours her sheer poise and warmth into the lyrics, turning the likes of Candy, Day by Dayand, particularly, For All We Knowand the afore-mentioned Skylarkinto a textbook reminder of what talents nurtured in the idiom can do without resorting to cliché. www.jazzdepot.com
