Keith Jarrett is nothing less than a living legend. Audiences flock to his rare performances in the world’s finest concert halls, and it is his unique ability to create music in the moment that has made him most famous – his spontaneous improvisations often sound as if they’ve been carefully composed over time. His 1975 album, The Köln Concert, catapulted him onto the world stage, and – at 4 million copies and counting – is the best-selling solo piano recording of all time. In 2005, Keith Jarrett played his first US solo concert in a decade on the stage of Carnegie Hall, America’s most celebrated venue. One year later to the day, this electrifying night of music will be released.

Returning to the solo live format for this double-disc, two hour and 20 minute long set, Keith Jarrett is in fine form. Recorded on two nights, three days apart, in Osaka and Tokyo in 2002 (but not released until 2005), Jarrett approached these recordings with no planning. Instead he let the energy transport him and his hands to places that can only be found when the philosophical and physical join as one. It was a risky move, but it paid off in one of the most inspired and challenging albums of his nearly four-decade career.

The usual Jarrett musical concepts apply as he combines classical, jazz, avant-garde, and dynamic melodic ideas within a single piece. Even in the album's many quiet moments, the energy level never wavers as this performance proves that the space between notes is every bit as intense and important as the notes themselves. Shifting between subtle passages such as those in "Part 6" and the more dissonant work of "Part 7," Jarrett takes his audience on a journey that seems as illuminating for him as it is for us. This is cerebral, obdurate yet flexible and emotionally driven music from a musician who always follows his inner calling. Established fans will be thrilled with this performance and open-minded newcomers will be left slack-jawed at Keith Jarrett's talent and uncompromising vision. Hal Horowitz

Recommended Keith Jarrett Discography

The Köln Concert (LIVE)
Belonging
The Survivor's Suite
Silence
Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings (Box Set) (LIVE)
Nude Ants

On April 9, 2011 Keith Jarrett returned to South America for the first time in decades to perform three solo concerts. The third and final concert found him in Rio de Janeiro in front of a packed house and enthralled audience. Inspired by the electrifying atmosphere, the pianist pulls a broad range of material from the ether: thoughtful/reflective pieces, abstract sound-structures, pieces that fairly vibrate with energy. The double album climaxes with a marvelous sequence of encores. 40 years ago this year Keith Jarrett recorded his first ECM disc, the ground-breaking, solo piano Facing You. He has refined his approach to solo music many times since then, always finding new things to play. So it is here, in this engaging solo recording from Brazil.

Shostakovich composed his 24 Preludes and Fugues for the brilliant Russian pianist Tatiana Nikolayeva (whose own distinguished version is also on disc), but it's American Keith Jarrett who really nails these amazing, revelatory works which together form one of the masterpieces of 20th-century piano music. This recording is a must for all lovers of piano music and of Bach, whose own works inspired them. —David Vernier

Limited edition Japanese pressing of the 1975 album comes packaged in an LP sleeve. ECM. 2005.

Reissue of Keith Jarret's solo piano album originally releaed in 1999. Includes "Be My Love" used in the movie "Yogisha Shinji Muroi."

Japanese only 2 x SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) pressing. Universal. 2008.

Jasmine marks Keith Jarrett's first recorded collaboration in decades other than with his standards trio, and reunites him with the great bassist Charlie Haden, a close partner until the mid-seventies. Intimate, spontaneous and warm, this album of love songs recorded at Jarrett's home, has affinities, in its unaffected directness, with his solo collection The Melody At Night With You. These deeply felt performances should inspire any listener "to call your wife or husband or lover in late at night," as Jarrett says in his liner notes, "These are great love songs played by players who are trying, mostly, to keep the message intact." The program on Jasmine includes such classic songs as "Body and Soul", "For All We Know" , "Where Can I Go Without You", "Don't Ever Leave Me" as well as a rare Jarrett cover of a contemporary pop song, "One Day I'll Fly Away". Jarrett and Haden play the music and nothing but the music - as only they can. As Keith Jarrett says in his liner notes: "This is spontaneous music made on the spot without any preparation save our dedication throughout our lives that we won't accept a substitute... These are great love songs played by players who are trying, mostly, to keep the message intact."