Paris Concert (Keith Jarrett album)


Paris Concert is a live solo piano album by American pianist Keith Jarrett, recorded on October 17, 1988 at the Salle Pleyel in Paris and released by ECM Records in April 1990.

1988 solo piano concerts

According to www.keithjarrett.org, in 1988 Jarrett toured Europe two times offering 6 solo concerts:. Paris concert was recorded during the second 1988 European mini-tour.
A usually enthusiastic reviewer, Richard Lehnert at Stereophile states that "this is Jarrett's most satisfying solo outing since 1982's Concerts" and gave the album the "Recording of November 1990" award. As for the recording technique and results he states that:
Despite a 4 out of 5 stars rating, a less enthusiastic Allmusic review by Richard S. Ginell states that "Jarrett pulls further away from the old rousing gospel, blues and folk roots of earlier concerts toward a more abstract concept" and that " virtuosic abilities are never in doubt, and he rarely flaunts his technique for its own sake, but one senses that the inspiration level is down; one doesn't come out of the CD all charged up as with many earlier solo concerts."

Track listing

The first track on the album is a characteristic lenghty 38-minutes solo improvisation entitled "October 17, 1988".
The second track is a performance of "The Wind", a ballad by American jazz composers Russ Freeman and Jerry Gladstone, the first time that Jarrett included composed works by anyone else in any of his solo piano live albums.
Finally, the third track is an improvised C Major blues which would become a trademark in future solo concerts.
  1. "October 17, 1988" – 38:23
  2. "The Wind" - 6:32
  3. "Blues" - 5:22
Total effective playing time: 48:33

Personnel