My Foolish Heart

The Age

Thursday December 13, 2007

Leon Gettler

My Foolish Heart

Keith Jarrett/Gary Peacock/Jack DeJohnette

ECM

4/5.5

In his liner notes, pianist Jarrett says this album, recorded live at Montreux in 2001, comes closest to being the definitive statement for this trio to die for. "If jazz is about swinging, energy and personal ecstasy for the player and the listener, I can think of no other single concert by the trio that expresses these qualities so completely and comprehensively". He has a point. Certainly, I would put this two-CD set up there with 1999's superb Whisper Not, the trio's quintessential moment. From the start on the joyously uptempo version of Four, they fill the Miles Davis standard with excitement, before moving on to the title track where Jarrett characteristically goes into an oblique foray for several choruses. But the big surprise here is the way they play stride on Fats Waller's hits Ain't Misbehavin' and Honeysuckle Rose - check the giddiness of DeJohnette's drumming here - and the Rodgers and Hart classic You Took Advantage of Me. Then straight into Thelonious Monk's Straight No Chaser for a completely new direction. Other wonderful moments include Peacock's perfectly weighted bass solos that just sing on What's New and Only the Lonely, and their laid-back version of Gerry Mulligan's Five Brothers. -- LEON GETTLER

© 2007 The Age

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