Jasmine is a 2010 duet album by American pianist Keith Jarrett and bassist Charlie Haden. It was released on 12 May 2010. The album was recorded in March 2007 at Jarrett's home studio in Oxford Township, New Jersey during the recording of a documentary about Haden.[9] Additional tracks from the same session, including alternate takes of "Where Can I Go Without You" and "Goodbye", were released in 2014 on Last Dance.
In the album liner notes, Jarrett wrote: "This recording was done in my small studio. It has very dry sound and we didn't want to have the recording sound like anything but exactly what we were hearing while we played. So it is direct and straightforward... We did not rehearse per se, but went over chords when necessary... We had not played in over thirty years, but something magical happened and I then invited Charlie and his wife to the house to do some playing for a few days with no assurance that we'd have anything (including sound) that we'd want to release." He continued: "Jasmine is a night-blooming flower with a beautiful fragrance and I hope you can hear what went into this, as there is no way to do anything as touching as this by rehearsing it until it dies. This is spontaneous music made on the spot without any preparation save our dedication throughout our lives that we won't accept a substitute: it's either the real thing or it's nothing. It's either real life, or it's a cartoon... These are great love songs played by players who are trying, mostly, to keep the message intact. I hope you can hear it the way we did."[10]
Reception
In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek stated: "Jasmine is a collection of love songs; most are standards played by two stellar improvisers. Picking out highlights on this eight-song, hour-long set is difficult because the dry warmth of these performances is multiplied by deeply intuitive listening and the near symbiotic, telepathic nature of the playing. The entire proceeding flows seamlessly... Jasmine is, ultimately, jazz distilled to its most essential; it not only expresses emotion and beauty, but discovers them in every moment of its performance."[1]
Robert L. Doerschuk, in a review for DownBeat, remarked: "depth is what Jasmine is all about. Jarrett and Haden play with what might be described as awesome restraint, given the razzle and dazzle each could have brought to the table, with Haden in his familiar mode of playing sparely, sometimes investing each note with a weighty grace... It feels almost corny to describe what [Jarrett]'s doing as beautiful, because beauty has become either less of a priority or a cynical synonym for trendy. And yet beautiful is just what these moments are."[3]
Writing for the BBC, John Eyles called the album a "noteworthy and historic release", and commented: "Throughout the album, their playing radiates the pair's spontaneous enjoyment of each other’s company and of the songs. Although it may not be a word immediately associated with either of them, Jarrett and Haden sound as if they are having fun here. Both are now respected elder statesmen of jazz, long ago assured of their place in history and each with albums on those lists of 'essentials'. It may not be too long until Jasmine itself appears on such lists.[9]
In a review for Slant Magazine, Jesse Cataldo stated: "About as cleanly resplendent as music comes, Jasmine... is whisper-quiet, but not necessarily simple... the album registers a kind of bare exquisiteness through hushed conversation between the two instruments... The album also proves, as an antidote to the work of aging standards abusers like Rod Stewart, that retrospective late-career reinterpretation doesn’t necessarily equal creative death. The changes Jarrett and Haden make to Jasmine's source material are small and delicate, but their resistance to flaunting internal beauty only makes the album more remarkable."[11]
John Kelman, in a review for All About Jazz, wrote: "Over the course of three decades, much has changed, but some things have remained. Both players have largely become interpreters rather than composers, although Jarrett has rightfully argued that interpretation is composition. Still, their empathic approach to this ballad-heavy set... remains as profound as it was when they were collaborating regularly... Recorded in Jarrett's small home studio, it feels like it was recorded in a living room, with both players at ease, turning a group of nine well-loved, well-known songs into informal conversations, where individual spotlights shine occasionally, but are far more often about gentle give-and-take, lyrical spontaneity and nothing-to-prove economy."[2]
Tyran Grillo of Between Sound and Space commented: "This album proves that maturity is about filtering out all that distracts us from being who we are and finding just the right melody, taking comfort in the method over the message. The title of the first track, 'For All We Know,' says it all. That two musicians, walking such different paths, can come together and create something so powerfully understated, so viscerally unfettered, is a testament to the creative potential of knowledge and the gift of life that allows it... It is a heartfelt meditation on the philosophy of experience, a direct statement regarding the lives of its performers. This album might as well be called 'Jazzmine,' for that's exactly what it is: a mine of tried-and-true standards, each plucked carefully from the surrounding rock and arranged in a row of sparkling gems... Over thirty years in the making, Jasmine was already a classic before Jarrett and Haden ever stepped into the studio to record it. It is as if the music had already existed and our dynamic duo merely needed to catch up with it... This is an album in the past tense, every sound a memory caught in the branches of our curiosity... They're not trying to break new ground here, but to see what can still be built upon the old ground before it disappears. And why not, for their materials are still resilient, pliant, and reliable. Listen to Jasmine for its quiet charm, for the way it sings without words, for the tireless care it embodies, but above all listen to discover just how honest music can be."[12]
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.
Eyes of The Heart is a live album by American pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Theater am Kornmarkt in Bregenz, Austria in May 1976 and released on ECM in 1979—the last release by Jarrett's "American Quartet", featuring saxophonist Dewey Redman and rhythm section Charlie Haden and Paul Motian.
80/81 is a double album by jazz guitarist Pat Metheny recorded over four days in May 1980 and released on ECM later that year. Metheny leads a quartet consisting of the rhythm section of Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette, with saxophone duties alternating between Dewey Redman and Michael Brecker.
The Survivors' Suite is an album by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, recorded in April 1976 and released on ECM the following year. The quartet—Jarrett's "American Quartet"—features saxophonist Dewey Redman and rhythm section Charlie Haden and Paul Motian.
Paris / London: Testament is a live solo piano album by American pianist Keith Jarrett, recorded at the Salle Pleyel in Paris 26 November 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.
Yesterdays is a live jazz album by Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, and Jack DeJohnette recorded in concert on April 30, 2001 at the Metropolitan Festival Hall in Tokyo and also at the sound-check recording of April 24, 2001 at the Orchard Hall in Tokyo that would give way to Always Let Me Go. It was released by ECM Records in 2009.
The Out-of-Towners is a live album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich on July 28, 2001 and released by ECM on August 30, 2004. Jarrett's trio—the Standards trio—features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette.
Inside Out is a live album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, recorded at the Royal Festival Hall in London on July 26 & 28, 2000 and released on ECM October the following year. The trio—Jarrett's "Standards Trio"—features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. Along with Changes (1983) and Changeless (1987), this was the trio's third album to feature mainly original improvised material.
Over the years, Keith Jarrett has recorded in many different settings: jazz piano trio, classical and baroque music, improvised contemporary music, solo piano, etc. Well known for his tremendous impact on the piano and jazz scene, as a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and first class improviser, Keith Jarrett's original output embraces many different musical styles and spans a period of almost 50 years, comprising a generous production of more than 100 albums.
Up for It is a live album by Keith Jarrett's "Standards Trio," featuring Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette. It was recorded at the Jazz à Juan festival in Juan-les-Pins, France, on July 16, 2002 and released by ECM Records in May of the following year to commemorate the trio's 20th anniversary.
Arbour Zena is an orchestral work composed by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett which was recorded in October 1975 and released by ECM the following year. The trio features saxophonist Jan Garbarek and bassist Charlie Haden backed by members of the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mladen Gutesha.
Old and New Dreams is the self-titled second album by jazz quartet Old and New Dreams, recorded in 1979 and released on ECM later that year. The quartet features trumpeter Don Cherry, saxophonist Dewey Redman, and rhythm section of Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell—their debut, released on Black Saint, was also self titled.
Hymns/Spheres is a solo double album by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded on the Karl Joseph Riepp "Trinity" Baroque pipe organ at the Benedictine Abbey in Ottobeuren in September 1976 and released on ECM later that year.
The Celestial Hawk: For Orchestra, Percussion and Piano is an album of contemporary classical music by Keith Jarrett recorded at Carnegie Hall with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Christopher Keene, on March 22, 1980 and released on ECM 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.
Somewhere is a live album by Keith Jarrett's "Standards Trio," recorded in Switzerland on July 11, 2009 and released on ECM in May 2013.
Last Dance is an album by American pianist and composer Keith Jarrett and American jazz double bass player Charlie Haden—long-term collaborators—recorded at Jarrett's home studio in March 2007 and released on ECM in June 2014 containing outtakes and two alternate takes from Jasmine, released four years previously.
No End is solo album by American pianist and composer Keith Jarrett, credited to "Solo/Band," recorded in 1986 at his home studio in New Jersey and released on ECM in November 2013.
Hamburg '72 is a live album by Keith Jarrett recorded in West Germany on June 14, 1972, and released on the ECM label in November 2014. The trio—Jarrett's first—features rhythm section Charlie Haden and Paul Motian, both of whom died before the album's release.
Munich 2016 is a live solo double-album by American pianist and composer Keith Jarrett recorded at the Philharmonic Hall in Munich on July 16, 2016 and released on ECM in November 2019.
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