His live boxed set is simply killer. I prefer him playing his own compositions to music written by others. Thankfully, most of his recordings (his name on the cover) were of his own stuff.
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Tough question unless you've listened to all of them (I certainly haven't), and even then different people tend to like different aspects of his art. Remember, this is a guy who can go from straight-ahead standards to free jazz. You should sample and decide for yourself. With that in mind, one way to break down his oeuvre is: 1) solo work 2) the standards trio (w/Peacock & DeJohnette) 3) everything else. For solo work, the classic is Koln Concert, which you have to hear, even though the piano's out of tune. Many people (including possibly Jarrett himself) think Vienna is his best. It's a bit too heavy-handed for my taste. My favorite is La Scala, but that's partly sentimental--the first time I heard him live he did "Over the Rainbow" as an encore. For the trio, I think Still Live is the best I've heard. It's standards with an edge. More traditional is Tokyo 96. Inside Out is free. (I've heard them play free live and it's amazing, but it doesn't work for me on record.) I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't have the Live at the Blue Note 6-CD set, but it's widely viewed as great. There's a 1-CD subset, if you want to start with that. I don't know enough of his other work to comment. Hope this helps. |
Follow link below to a list of his works. (AMG now requires registering which I don't like). http://www.tcp-ip.or.jp/~ichihasi/CH/CH_disco.htm I love Jarrett, probably have at least 25 of his LP's. There is one particular album with Alice Coltrane and Charlie Hayden that is so spectacular, every time I play it someone makes a point of writing down the title. It's called "Closeness" and was released on A&M in 1976. This guy is so unbelievable it's difficult to point out a single work. |
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