The Old Country (Live at the Deer Head Inn) is Keith Jarrett’s newest release featuring Gary Peacock on the upright bass and Paul Motian on the drums. Jarrett’s trio, which usually features Jack DeJohnette on drums, has been touring and recording together for decades. The trio on this album, however, does not disappoint. It is an album of jazz standards, though the way in which this trio approaches each standard is what makes this album especially interesting.
Jarrett is nothing short of a musical genius. He has proved this throughout his illustrious career, playing with some of the biggest names in jazz. His unique sound and approach to swing and improvisation make him stand out from his musical peers. Still, you can hear the influences of many in his style (Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea are who I hear the most). Evans specifically is who I heard a lot of in this. The album almost feels like an homage to the recordings Evans did with Motian and bassist Scott LaFaro more than six decades ago. Peacock utilizes LaFaro’s technique of broken time in various tracks (most notably in Everything I Love – Live), Motian brings out his signature brush ideas, and Jarrett responds to all of this with a comping style in which the left hand plays almost in rhythmic unison with the right hand (not to be confused with block chords). All of these things can be heard in Evans’ work.
Jarrett still manages to make the selected standards his own with his incredible understanding of harmony. He can make simple, diatonic harmony sound interesting (The intro to I Fall In Love Too Easily – Live), but he also can take his vocabulary so far out there that I cannot begin to describe what is happening (Straight No Chaser – Live). I was completely entranced by his virtuosity. However, I fell out of this trance as the album went on. The musicians in the second half of the album did not display the same level of virtuosity they did in the first. It began to feel like a run-of-the-mill live jazz album where the rhythm section stays stagnant in their roles and the structure of the music is all the same. The title track, The Old Country – Live is just shy of 13 minutes long. The second half of the recording is over a simple vamp, but it never felt like musically we were headed anywhere. Perhaps the first half of the album made it hard for the second half to live up to. The music stopped sounding like Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Paul Motian.
Still, I enjoyed the album quite a lot. The musicians are an absolute joy to listen to, especially as a jazz musician. Peacock and Motian lay such a solid foundation that allows Jarrett to explore a multitude of ideas that seem to come so effortlessly to him. And when it was another player’s time to shine, they were equally supported. Another great album from Jarrett in the books.
Best track: I Fall In Love Too Easily – Live
Rating: 8.2/10