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Keith Jarrett: The Old Country: More from the Deer Head Inn

By Jack Kenny
November 7, 2024
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Keith Jarrett: The Old Country: More from the Deer Head Inn

Keith Jarrett remarked as he listened to a tape of the session: "I think that you can hear on this tape, what jazz is all about." What did he mean? Was he reacting to criticisms of his long-form improvisations? Was it because he was in a small venue that prioritized jazz?

Of course, you can hear "what jazz is all about." Major musicians accompanied him: bassist

Gary Peacock

bass, acoustic
1935 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Gary Peacock,

Paul Motian

drums
1931 - 2011

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Motian, a master drummer he had not played with for some time.

The first, earlier, album from Deer Head Inn has been acclaimed and admired. Some of the melodies were favored by

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis. Jarrett's work, as before, is shaped by the contours of the songs and the chord structures. He is also challenged by reacting to a different drummer from his Standards Trio.

The venue was important to Jarrett. It was the scene of one of his first paid engagements. The club founded by a jazz-loving English teacher, Bob Lehr, had been recently taken over by Bob's daughter and Jarrett was anxious to be one of the first to play there as it was re- christened. Jarrett describes the intimate atmosphere: "a warm, humid, rainy, foggy autumn night in the Pocono Mountains. The room was full of people, and outside on the porch more people listened through the screen doors." The words have a nostalgic warmth that permeates the music.

Gary Peacock is usually referred to as a master bassist. His history via

Albert Ayler

saxophone, tenor
1936 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Albert Ayler,

Lee Konitz

saxophone, alto
1927 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Lee Konitz,

George Russell

composer / conductor
1923 - 2009

" data-original-title="" title="">George Russell,

Paul Bley

piano
1932 - 2016

" data-original-title="" title="">Paul Bley and

Bill Evans

piano
1929 - 1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Bill Evans shows adventure and openness. His knowledge of mid- twentieth-century jazz is without equal. An extended time in Japan made him aware of another culture. In addition, Peacock was a man of deep insights who endeavored to understand himself and his relationship to music. He said: "There are two approaches to improvisation. The first approach, I would say, is the person, the self, playing the muse, playing the self. And the second one is the muse playing the self, playing the muse. In the first case, it starts with the player and ends with the player. In the second case, it begins with the muse and ends with the muse. It's the idea of allowing the music to take me over rather than me taking the music over."

At the time Peacock's daily mantra was a quote from his Zen teacher, John Daido Loori, Roshi. "I asked him one time, "What is Zen?" He said, "Just do what you're doing while you're doing it." It is so simple, but it is so hard! That's something about Keith. Whatever he's doing, he's doing it. In some ways, he's more Zen than anybody I've ever met."

The drummer from the classic Bill Evans trio, Paul Motian, was substituting this evening for

Jack DeJohnette

drums
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Jack DeJohnette. It is interesting to compare the two drummers. Motian's more restrained, spacious playing contrasts with DeJohnette's more active, multi-layered approach in Jarrett's Standards Trio. There is a freer rhythm from Motian at Deer Head and he undoubtedly has a great influence on the music. He also knows when to do nothing.

Keith Jarrett believed, like

Lester Young

saxophone
1909 - 1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Lester Young, that it was necessary to know the lyrics of a song. Knowing the lyric, he felt, makes the shape of his offering more organic, and deeper, the phrasing more elegant. The choice of pieces from this such as the complex lyric "How Long Has This Been Going On?," a subtle sophisticated song about innocence meeting experience. It is not really about betrayal but about the existential reaction to the wonder of a first real kiss. The tempo chosen by Jarrett is entirely appropriate.

An almost hymnlike opening to "I Fall In Love Too Easily" eventually has a world-weary roue feel to it as the interpretation is tinged with regret and self-awareness. Peacock and Jarrett seem lost in the melody with Motian hardly audible. The infectious swing of "Straight No Chaser" almost seems out of keeping with the mood of the rest of the album as it smooths out

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk's idiosyncrasies.

Is it fanciful to say that

Nat Adderley

trumpet
1931 - 2000

" data-original-title="" title="">Nat Adderley's "Old Country" has a similarity in mood to Jarrett's "Country"? Both are elegies to a vanished world; both are elegant melodies that linger in the mind.

The enchantment of jazz is that some nights have special, almost indefinable qualities; other nights are almost routine. Jarrett and Peacock have always striven to outlaw the commonplace nights. Here are the inspired variations, the technique under control, the avoidance of cliches, the teeming ideas, the adroit harmonies, the intense concentration and the graceful treatment of wonderful themes. Jarrett is right: this tape is what jazz is all about.

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Track Listing

Everything I Love; I Fall in Love Too Easily; Straight No Chaser; All of You; Someday My Prince Will Come; The Old Country; Golden Earrings; How Long Has This Been Going On.

Personnel

Keith Jarrett

piano

Gary Peacock

bass, acoustic

Paul Motian

drums

Album information

Title: The Old Country: More from the Deer Head Inn | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: ECM Records

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