KEITH JARRETT - BUDAPEST CONCERT [2LP]

ECM

£30.58

Cat. no: 739330
Format: LP2
Barcode: 602507393304
Release Date: 15th January 2021
Genre: Jazz

The second complete show to be issued from Keith Jarrett’s 2016 European tour - following on from the widely-acclaimed concert released as Munich 2016 - this double album documents the pianist’s solo performance at the Bela Bartok National Concert Hall in Budapest.

This version is on two LPs. Jarrett, whose family roots reach back to Hungary, viewed the Budapest concert as akin to a homecoming, and the context inspired much creative improvisation.

Where Jarrett’s early solo concerts shaped a large arc of music over the course of an evening, the later concerts have generated suite-like structures, comprised of independent “movements”, each of them a marvel of spontaneous resourcefulness.

Creative energy is applied also to familiar songs given as encores, “It’s A Lonesome Old Town” and “Answer Me”, transformed in the Budapest concert.

Press:
“I find it incredible that after all these years, and having listened to and enjoyed so many live recordings, that I can listen to a new release by the pianist and still be overcome with amazement. Budapest Concert is as inspirational as any of his solo outings, still sounding as fresh and spontaneous as if I had just been introduced to his music for the first time. There’s an energy, a power, a life-force that emanates out from the music itself, at times intensely beautiful, at times insanely dramatic, but always completely and genuinely incomparable.”
***** UK Vibe

“Challenging free jazz is gradually modified with songbook and stride influences and builds up to boogie-woogie...As usual with a Jarrett concert - and this is one of his best - the suggestion of something important being created masks its accessibility. Fun with audience flattery on top.” - **** The Times

“He returns with a delicate ballad/lullaby full of poise and grace; Part VI is a moment of magic - a shot of contrapuntal boogie-swing...fiendishly clever and joyous...His encores are a radiant Answer Me, My Love and a gorgeously melancholic It’s a Lonesome Old Town that takes its time to build to an operatic intensity.” - LondonJazzNews

“Budapest Concert (ECM) spans the then 71-year-old’s spontaneous prowess from stalkingly dissonant improv to wry boogying with a headlong drive worthy of the best of his 21st century solo shows.” - The Guardian

Newspiece in Jazzwise (Nov issue) and review in the Dec issue
Further reviews confirmed in MOJO, BBC Music Magazine, Financial Times, Jazzviews + All About Jazz

Tracks: Part I / Part II / Part III / Part IV / Part V / Part VI / Part VII / Part VIII / Part IX / Part X / Part XI / Part XII - Blues / It’s A Lonesome Old Town / Answer Me