Keith Jarrett "In The Light"

ECM 1033/34   835 011-2

All composed by Keith Jarrett

Published by Cavelight Music, BMI

Thanks to Mr. Robert Paiste.
Mr. Keith Jarrett plays (of course) PAISTE Cymbals and a 38" Symphony Gong

Recorded 1973
Recording Supervision: Manfred Eicher and Keith Jarrett
Cover design and Layout: B & B Wojirsch
Photos: R. Truckenmüller (Cover), Georgyves Braunschweig

Engineers: K. Rapp, M. Wieland, M. Scheuermann
Produced by Manfred Eicher and Keith Jarrett

An ECM Production
1974 ECM Records GmbH

ECM Records     Gleichmannstraße 10     8000 München 60

An artist is many times (though unconsciously) viewed as a one-dimensional being in a three-dimensional world. It's not hard to understand as applied to a sort of fanaticism which is the result or the cause of what I would call "Style". An artist "stylizes" something by viewing it in his way and immediately this view becomes a "law" by which an audience recognizes an artist. If this "law" changes at any time the audience must justify its lack of recognition by such things as "He's lost his touch" or "He's gone commercial" or "Well, he's getting old" or "He's trying to be mysterious" or "above our heads" etc. etc.; but never "He's discovering and utilizing all the aspects of himself that he finds" and, of course, those aspects are numberless.

Perhaps evolution would never happen at all if people were not constantly shown that it does. This is the task of an Artist, yet it is rarely shown.

Western Society is so hung up on the great god "Opinion" that they are beginning to forget that there is such a thing as Truth. This is a direct parallel to the fact of their being also hung up on "Style" and forgetting that there is such a thing as Music and, whereas something is either True or not, something is either Music or not.

Now, if I must plead my own cause, I will. I ask you to listen to this album, firstly, with total openness and concentration and without any relationship (at least mentally) to anything else you've ever heard. If you know what else I've done on record, forget about that being at all related to this. Secondly, don't listen to the whole album at once. Listen to one side at a time and then allow yourself to digest.

This is a collection of pieces written over a period of six years. It represents my more personal, perhaps even secret, until now, intentions in music.
I will explain briefly about each piece:

METAMORPHOSIS remains a singular example of a way of writing which I might define as "Automatic Writing". It really almost wrote itself and I remember very little effort involved with it. It introduces several themes all of which coalesce later, although the title of the piece refers to the flute in relation to life (as represented by the strings). It also was the longest in the writing, perhaps a year and a half. I also think of it as Universal Folk Music.

FUGHATA FOR HARPSICHORD represents a combination of elements (including counterpoint) which has continued to interest me.

BRASS QUINTET was originally begun as a work commissioned by a brass quintet in New York which then broke up and so naturally I completed it anyway. It is nearly unplayable and I may even suggest that the American Brass Quintet is the only group that could have successfully recorded it. As opposed to architectural form, this has a peculiar but strict evolutionary form.

A PAGAN HYMN is literally that to me.

STRING QUARTET is perhaps the most rigidly structured piece on the album and it taught me the great value of this rigidity. The Sonnleitner Quartet plays it so well that they actually transcend most of my intentions as composer. Naturally I didn't stop them.

SHORT PIECE FOR GUITAR AND STRINGS was written to relieve myself from the seriousness I had fallen into in writing some of the other pieces. I listen to it quite often.

CRYSTAL MOMENT is an experiment of another kind dealing more with scale, pitch, range, consistency, diversity, etc. other than melody or harmony in their usual sense. Its success surprised me.

IN THE CAVE, IN THE LIGHT was the hardest to write of them all. I constantly wondered why I was writing what I was writing because the territory I found myself in was sparsely travelled and I could draw no boundary lines.
I now see that the dark can be looked at two ways: forbidding or enticing. I chose to be enticed and was finally allowed to turn on a light in there. Now the darkness is that much smaller and my faith is greater that what is found in the darkness is not destructive, but Creative.

I have never seen nor heard about an album that was treated with such care and love (in production) as this one. Every step, from choosing the studio to choosing the smallest cymbal was in the hands of someone who really wanted to do this. I personally chose the piano and cymbals and all the other choices had to be acceptable to me before they were considered. This rarely happens, I think, even with quite well-known composers and I can't help but feel sorrow for those who are not treated this way. For all these things I must thank Manfred Eicher, who shared all the burdens and, I know, is also as happy as I am about the rewards.

I must say also that without the inspiring help of Mladen Gutesha and Herrn Geiger (1st violin), I would have been more or less alone, breathing rarified air in a strange atmosphere without a guide. Their interest was truly remarkable and their help gargantuan.

I humbly dedicate this album to my wife, Margot, my son Gabriel, and all the people who have allowed me to see their beauty rather than holding fast to it as though it were embarrassing. God cannot manifest Himself here on earth except through them.

Keith Jarrett

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Обновление: 14.03.2004