Dennis Russell Davies - Keith Jarrett: Ritual (1982/2014) [Official Digital Download 24-bit/96kHz]

Keith Jarrett and conductor-pianist Dennis Russell Davies have been friends and musical comrades for forty years. In the mid-70s the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, under Davies direction presented Jarretts chamber music. In the 90s Jarrett recorded the Mozart piano concertos with Davies and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. Near the beginning of their association, Jarrett invited Davies to play a composition he had written for solo piano. To listen to Ritual is akin to experiencing the core of a Jarrett solo concert. The interpreter may be different, but the lyrical expression is remarkably consistent. As Dennis Russell l Davies says: "Those who know Keith will hear him in this music. It couldnt have been written by anyone else".

This is a doubly curious two-piece suite that was originally released in 1977. First off, it's the work of a jazz artist being played by a classical pianist and conductor. Secondly, it harks back to a much earlier period in Keith Jarrett's career – one that few modern fans actually remember – as a composer. What is not clear is if this work was one of Jarrett's improvised pieces from the era that gave us the Köln Concert, Bremen and Lausanne, etc., and later notated, or if it was originally composed. Though Jarrett's melodic signatures are firmly in place throughout, Davies has little real feel for the forms that inspired the composer: namely, gospel, folk, standards, etc. That said, he does a serviceable – if more formally disciplined – job, interpreting the work and keeping the balance of drama, lyricism, dynamic, and a bit of the composer's lithe impressionistic harmonic touch pretty much intact.

Tracklist:

01 - Ritual (Part I)
02 - Ritual (Part II)


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