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When I first heard this music on the radio I was mystified, because it sounded like Keith Jarrett musically, but had none of the hallmark vocalising or oral contributions one has come to live with on a Jarrett album. This is one of a small selection of albums I find to be perfect 'afterglow' music, just the right amount of tenderness and expansiveness to carry you into the cosmic dimension of relationship, where every note is a whisper of the Infinite, just as every moment with your lover seems to be the whole point of existence.
If you want some nice background music for a dinner party you're throwing, it's a good choice. This was a huge disappointment. The record sounds like a talented pianist playing in a hotel lounge. Otherwise, look elsewhere. How could such a brilliant musician make such a banal record.
Still mood music paying worthy homage to some classics can often paint in fantastic depressive swipes but remains too straightforwardly pulse-less to provide consistent revisitation.
At the time he made this recording, pianist Keith Jarrett had been quite seriously ill (chronic fatigue syndrome) for more than a year, and pretty well out of circulation in regard to recordings and live performances. Little surprise, then, that Jarrett dedicated the recording to his wife, with the tender words, "For Rose Anne/Who heard the music/Then gave it back to me." That love comes through the music, and it is beautiful to behold. There is also not much of his humming or groaning (yes, there is some, but not nearly as much as on some of his previous recordings), so those who have been put off in the past by Jarrett's impromptu sound effects have little to fear.
Even if you disregard the physical and emotional duress under which this recording was made, it is an auspicious recording by virtue of its being the first solo recording of standards that Jarrett has ever released (he has recorded standards with his trio, but his solo outings have been either improvisations or classical compositions). My special favorites on this disk are his versions of "I Loves You Porgy," "Someone to Watch Over Me," and "Shenandoah," but I can honestly say there is not a weak cut on the whole CD. During his illness, however, he did not abandon music; in fact, one of his projects was to make this recording in his own home.
The piano sound is rich and full, and combined with the warm emotional feeling of the performances, the overall result is a richly rewarding musical experience. The performances captured on this CD are of the reflective, dreamy kind--no piano-pounding workouts this time around. But by reflective and dreamy, I do not mean wispy or uncommitted; indeed, these are passionate performances, but reflective of an inward rather than outward radiance and fire.
This is music that is familiar, tender, fresh, moving, rewarding, and timeless in its appeal to the heart. My appreciation goes out to Keith Jarrett and Manfred Eicher for being willing to share something so intimate yet so universal with us all.
The title is a very good suggestion to the use you can make of this brilliant music. 'The Melody at Night, with you' is an excellent album, a real pleasure to listen to. I was attracted by all the positive reviews on that one, and i wasn't disappointed. I didn't know Keith Jarrett before that album, and I have to admit that I felt in love with the smooth & brilliant piano.No hesitations on this album if you like (and even if you don't). smooth piano jazz.
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