My Quartet

When I was going through some old copies of Down Beat in my collection I stumbled upon a great interview with Bill Bruford. It was great because it reflected his musical career and also his upcoming tour with his band Earthworks. It was this same tour that I went to see him four times and each night was better then the next. It was also an interview to talk about the future of music that he was in and the past that he was a part of. He mentioned his tenure with King Crimson, Yes, Genesis and other bands that he was a part of. He was all over the drumming circles in the 70's. At the end of the interview he was asked some serious Jazz questions on what albums he liked to listen to. It was very cool because he did not mention much about the music he was on, but the music that gave him a drummers voice as far as other drummers he liked in the music world.

He talked about growing up hearing the music of Dave Brubeck and other jazz people. He mentioned when he performed he would never get tired of some albums that were so well put together that he put those on the highest plateau. These albums as he put it were classics. He mentioned Keith Jarrett a number of times. He put him in the highest regard because not only was Keith Jarrett a great piano player, but on some albums he played other instruments. I was very familiar with those because I have a few albums where does do double or even triple duty on a lot of stuff.



On his famous European quartet albums he only plays piano. In the 70's he was leading two quartets. The European quartet consisted of Jan Garbarek, Palle Daniellson and Jon Christensen. These four musicians are great in their own right. Each of them really put on a great show on this album. I really wish I could travel back in the 70's to watch this band work with razor sharp accuracy. I am sure there are bands that wish they could play this good. I have seen Keith Jarrett with his trio and solo and each time there is something hypnotic about what he and (with the group) he does. This is a classic case of that. They put themselves at the outer limits of greatness. This album is a straight ahead Jazz album with all the pistons firing. The music does not have that European feel like some albums that ECM put out, but more like an album that was just put out this year.



I know I recommend a lot of things. Most of these post are great starts in whatever genre of music I am grabbing from, but this album is an album that can be held up high and discussed with the best Jazz albums in the world. I chose this Keith Jarrett because most of his piano playing is off the charts great. He makes you want to get on that piano and learn his parts. He really gets the mind thinking on how he can pull it off with such ease. Go for it and enjoy a classic that will have you getting more Keith Jarrett albums. I will admit that I got this album while I already had others of his music so hearing this was still fresh and wonderful. It is a different sound from his trio album I recommended, but that's the fun. Each time you hear a Jarrett album you are curious why his name does not come up more and more. This album is the one that starts the conversation about his band playing. Enjoy!