Keith Jarrett: The Old Country: More From the Deer Head Inn — top-drawer piano-trio jazz
This recording of the pianist’s 1992 gig with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Paul Motian sounds fluid, focused and fresh
Delaware’s intimate Deer Head Inn occupies a special place in Keith Jarrett’s journey from child prodigy to jazz superstar. It was there that the pianist, fresh out of school, played his first serious jazz trio gig. And it was also there, as drummer with the house trio, that he spent weekends jamming with the venue’s regular visiting jazz stars. In 1964 Jarrett moved to New York. Sideman duties with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis followed. In 1975 his solo piano recording The Koln Concert established Jarrett as one of his generation’s few jazz superstars.
Yet his affection for that early-years venue never waned and in 1992, some 30 years after moving to New York, Jarrett returned to the Deer Head Inn for a full-to-the-rafters fundraising gig. Gary Peacock, from Jarrett’s Standards Trio, was on bass and Paul Motian, from Jarrett’s American Quartet, was on drums. It was the only time this particular trio line-up ever played together and the pianist and drummer had not performed together for 16 years. Jarrett delivered a lead voice tour de force and the rhythm section an ad hoc masterclass of support.
Seven songs from that gig, released in 1994 under the title At the Deer Head Inn, are established highlights of Jarrett’s voluminous discography. Now, for the first time, The Old Country releases the remaining eight. Jazz standards still mix with songbook evergreens, the trio dovetail brilliantly and the playing is fluid, focused and fresh. Jarrett describes the event as “a reunion and a jam session at the same time,” which exactly fits the music’s warmth, ease and sense of mutual respect.
The opener finds Jarrett at his melodically inventive best, the angularity of Monk’s “Straight No Chaser” is captured and Nat Adderley’s “The Old Country” is soulful and bittersweet. There’s a moving cover of “How Long Has This Been Going On” and the ballad is played beautifully. Here’s top-drawer piano-trio jazz that consistently holds sway.