A Multitude of Angels | ||||
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Box set by | ||||
Released | November 4, 2016 | |||
Recorded | October 23–30, 1996 | |||
Venue | Modena, Ferrara, Torino, and Genova, Italy | |||
Length | 4:57:06 | |||
Label | ECM ECM 2500/03 | |||
Producer | Keith Jarrett | |||
Keith Jarrett chronology | ||||
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Keith Jarrett solo piano chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
DownBeat | [2] |
The Guardian | [3] |
The Irish Times | [4] |
Financial Times | [5] |
PopMatters | [6] |
Stereophile [performance] | [7] |
The Times | [8] |
A Multitude of Angels is a four-disc live box set of solo piano performances by Keith Jarrett recorded in Italy over a week in October 1996 and released on ECM twenty years later.
The music comes from four concerts recorded in Italy: in Modena, Ferrara, Torino, and Genova, on October 23, 25, 28, and 30, 1996, respectively. [2] Jarrett recorded the concerts himself on a DAT machine. [2] Each consists of one performance without breaks; these were among the last times that Jarrett took this approach to performance. [2] After the concerts, he withdrew from playing in public, because of chronic fatigue syndrome. [2]
A Multitude of Angels was released by ECM Records on November 4, 2016. [9]
John Fordham of The Guardian commented that, "Jarrett has always favoured exhaustive documentation, but the intensity, variety, and astonishing technical command of these performances might well persuade devoted fans and intrigued improv enthusiasts alike of his view that these were landmark moments." [3]
John Garratt of PopMatters wrote that, "The four-disc box set A Multitude of Angels is the new turning point in Jarrett's career where he pushed himself too hard. His temporary illness is our gain.... [It] tells the music world what Keith Jarrett fans already knew—that the man could be an endless fountain of music, a one-man jam-band that only needed 88 keys to balance the Law of Fate with the Law of Accident (according to his liner notes). Since that's the case, this box will not alter anyone's perception of Jarrett or change his reputation overall." [6]
All tracks are written by Keith Jarrett except as noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Part I" | 34:18 | |
2. | "Part II" | 31:19 | |
3. | "Danny Boy" | Frederic Weatherly | 5:00 |
Total length: | 1:10:37 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Part I" | 43:48 |
2. | "Part II" | 29:58 |
3. | "Encore" | 3:26 |
Total length: | 1:17:12 |
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Part I" | 42:23 |
2. | "Part II" | 31:35 |
Total length: | 1:13:58 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Part I" | 31:41 | |
2. | "Part II" | 31:43 | |
3. | "Encore" | 5:52 | |
4. | "Over the Rainbow" | 6:03 | |
Total length: | 1:15:19 |
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also been a group leader and solo performer in jazz, jazz fusion, and classical music. His improvisations draw from the traditions of jazz and other genres, including Western classical music, gospel, blues, and ethnic folk music.
The Köln Concert is a live recording of solo piano improvisations performed by Keith Jarrett at the Opera House in Cologne on 24 January 1975. The double-vinyl album was released in 1975 by ECM. It became the best-selling solo album in jazz history and the best-selling piano album with sales of around 4 million. According to music critic Tom Hull, the album "cemented his reputation as the top pianist of his generation".
Solo Concerts: Bremen/Lausanne is a recording released through ECM by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett performing solo improvisations recorded in Bremen and Lausanne in 1973; in between, Jarrett played in the US with his American quartet. Originally released as a 3-LP album, it was the first of Jarrett's live solo performances to be released on ECM, following his studio-based debut solo recording Facing You (1971), and preceding his record-breaking Köln Concert (1975).
Sun Bear Concerts is a five-concert album compilation of solo piano performances by Keith Jarrett that took place during his November 1976 tour in Japan. It was originally released as a ten-LP set in 1978. It was rereleased in 1989 as a six-CD box set that added encores from three of the concerts, totalling 6:37:46 of music.
Facing You is the first solo piano album recorded by pianist Keith Jarrett, the first of his voluminous collection to be produced by Manfred Eicher and his first work to be released by ECM Records. It features eight solo piano pieces and it was recorded in the studio. It marked the beginning of Jarrett's innovative and successful career in spontaneous and improvised performance on solo piano, and it constitutes a landmark in his fruitful association with ECM Records.
The Carnegie Hall Concert is a solo live double-album by the American pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Isaac Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall on September 26, 2005 and released on ECM September the following year.
Radiance is a double-album by American pianist Keith Jarrett recorded in October 2002 in Japan at two different concerts—Osaka and Tokyo —and released by ECM in May 2005. In April 2006, a video recording of the live performance at Tokyo concert was released as Tokyo Solo.
Paris / London: Testament is a live solo piano album by American pianist Keith Jarrett, recorded at the Salle Pleyel in Paris November 26, 2008 and the Royal Festival Hall in London the next week on December first, and released as a three CD set on ECM in October the following year.
The Out-of-Towners is a live album by the jazz trio of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette, recorded at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich on July 28, 2001 and released on ECM in August 2004.
Up for It is a live album by Keith Jarrett's "Standards Trio," featuring Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette, recorded at the Jazz à Juan festival in Juan-les-Pins, France, on July 16, 2002 and released on ECM Records May the following year, celebrating the trios 20th anniversary.
Far Side is a live album by jazz saxophonist and composer Roscoe Mitchell and the Note Factory recorded at the Stadthalle in Burghausen, Germany on March 17, 2007 and released on ECM in 2010.
Rio is a live double-album of solo piano improvisations by Keith Jarrett, recorded at the Teatro Municipal in Rio de Janeiro on April 9, 2011 and released on ECM in November that same year.
Sleeper is a double album by Keith Jarrett's "European Quartet" recorded on April 16, 1979 in Tokyo, and released on ECM 33 years later in 2012.
Creation is a solo piano album by American pianist and composer Keith Jarrett containing music selected and sequenced from improvised solo concerts that took place in Japan, Canada, and Europe in April–July 2014." It was released by ECM Records in May 2015.
10 Years Solo Live is a recording by jazz pianist Brad Mehldau. It contains solo piano tracks from 19 concerts in Europe during the period 2004–2014.
After the Fall is a live double-album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on November 14, 1998 and released on ECM twenty years later. The trio features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette.
La Fenice is a live album of a solo piano performance by Keith Jarrett recorded at Teatro La Fenice theater in Italy in 2006, produced by Veneto Jazz / Giuseppe Mormile and released on ECM Records 12 years later, in 2018. According to ECM, its release was "timely" as the 62nd International Festival of Contemporary Music of the 'Biennale di Venezia' honoured Keith Jarrett with its Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.
Munich 2016 is a live solo double-album by American pianist and composer Keith Jarrett recorded at thePhilharmonic Hall in Munich on July 16, 2016 and released on ECM in November 2019.
Budapest Concert is a solo live double-album by American pianist and composer Keith Jarrett recorded live at the Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Budapest on July 3, 2016 and released on ECM in October 2020. Jarrett viewed the concert as a sort of homecoming due to his ancestry, which reaches back to Hungary.
Bordeaux Concert is a solo piano album by Keith Jarrett containing music recorded live on July 6, 2016, at L’Auditorium de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, during a European tour. It was released by ECM Records on CD in September 2022.