Keith Jarrett: Belonging (1974)
Personnel: Keith Jarrett (piano); Jan Garbarek (soprano & tenor saxophones); Palle Danielsson (bass); Jon Christensen (drums).
Song
1. Spiral Dance 4:07
2. Blossom 12:11
3. 'Long As You Know You're Living Yours 6:10
4. Belonging 2:12
5. The Windup 8:22
6. Solstice 13:22
Amazon.com essential recording
When Keith Jarrett debuted this largely Nordic quartet, he was in the midst of developing a U.S.-based group of the same size with heavy leanings toward the approaches of Ornette Coleman and Paul Bley (even using veterans of Coleman bands). With the Nordic band, Jarrett was better suited to play wistful, melodic vamps that got great mileage out of Jan Garbarek's wavering but mostly vibrato-free tone and the ethereal rhythmic floats supplied by drummer Jon Christensen and bassist Palle Danielsson. "Blossom" is a lengthy, smoldering ballad, as tender as it gets in Jarrett's canon and worth every minor move the group makes. And while things are fairly icy throughout the slower spots, the band slinks into a couple gospel-touched gems, "'Long as You Know You're Living Yours" and the harmonically piled, funky "Windup." All in all, this is not only one of the Jarrett high marks, it's a pinnacle for 1970s jazz overall. --Andrew Bartlett
The spine on the CD cites Keith Jarrett as the recording artist, but many regard this as a Jan Garbarek album. Jarrett was the non-Scandinavian in a superb quartet that comprised Garbarek (saxophones), Pelle Danielson (bass) and Jon Christensen (drums). Garbarek and Jarrett constantly interplay, offering melancholy, romance, sadness and emotional, musical bliss on 'Spiral Dance' and 'Blossom', and manage to groove along with the out-of-character 'Long As You Know You're Living Yours'. One of the finest moments from ECM's exceptional and now sizeable catalogue, perhaps Jarrett and Garbarek need to work together sporadically in order to spark and recharge each other.
Recorded at Arne Bendiksen Studio, Oslo, Norway on April 24 & 25, 1974.
