| Sun Bear Concerts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Box set / Live album by | ||||
| Released | January 1978 [1] | |||
| Recorded | November 5–18, 1976 | |||
| Venue | Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo, Sapporo and Osaka (Japan) | |||
| Length | 6:37:46 | |||
| Label | ECM ECM 1100 | |||
| Producer | Manfred Eicher | |||
| Keith Jarrett chronology | ||||
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| Keith Jarrett solo piano chronology | ||||
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Sun Bear Concerts is a live box set by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett compiling five solo piano concerts performed over two weeks during his November 1976 tour in Japan and released on ECM in January 1978.
Sun Bear Concerts compiles five of the eight concerts performed on Jarrett's November 1976 solo tour in Japan: [2]
In a 1979 interview, Jarrett stated, "I was involved in a very searching period of time when we recorded that, and the music itself was almost a release for the search. I've been thinking—Sun Bear is the only thing I've recorded that runs the gamut of human emotion. I think that if you got to know it well enough, you'd find it all in there someplace." [3]
Jarrett, as quoted in his biography, explained the title:
On a Japanese tour I saw a sun bear in the zoo, a small bear which really looked friendly and doesn't exist anywhere outside Japan. The next day I asked our Japanese sound engineer about this animal because I remembered its face, a really friendly small face, and he replied, 'Yes, it's a beautiful bear but if you get near enough to him he will knock you three blocks down the road'. I simply liked the idea of an animal that looks as if it would be nice to get near to and which, when you do so, shakes your whole conception of life. [4]
The Sun Bear Concerts were originally released as a ten-LP set in January 1978, and re-released in 1989 as a six-CD (and six cassette) box set, with encores from the concerts in Sapporo, Tokyo and Nagoya—the first that the five performances could be heard as a whole. [5]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [6] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [7] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [8] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings | [9] |
The AllMusic review by Richard S. Ginell states, "While Sun Bear breaks little ground that his earlier solo piano albums had not already covered, it is nevertheless richly inventive within Jarrett's personal parameter of idioms. If price is not a barrier, the Jarrett devotee need not hesitate". [6] A review by Thom Jurek of the 2021 facsimile edition refers to the album as "a pinnacle of creative invention in Jarrett's voluminous catalog". [10]
Writing for Rolling Stone, Mikal Gilmore remarked, "Nowhere else in his collected works does music seem more effortless and splendid. From the opening phrase onward, it unfolds like an idyllic dream on the border of consciousness, and like the best of dreams – or narratives – you never want it to end. It is, to my mind, one of the few real self-contained epics in Seventies music." [3]
Writing for ECM blog Between Sound and Space, Tyran Grillo commented, "The Sun Bear Concerts prove that not only is Jarrett an unparalleled improviser but a melodician of the highest order. These pieces are consistent in their striking differences, yet all seem couched in a palpable melancholy that is striated with joy. Despite the sheer volume of music that seems to reside in Jarrett's entire physiological being, one gets the sense after listening to these six-and-a-half hours of brilliance that they comprise but a single molecule of creation dissected and slowed to discernible speeds. At least we, at this moment in time, can witness these atomic paths, knowing full well that their beauty lies in an allegiance to silence. Not a single note ever feels out of place, because it has no place to begin with, except as the emblem of that which is gone before it arrives... If you ever buy only one recording of Keith Jarrett, look no further. Then again, why stop here?" [11]
Jarrett biographer Ian Carr called Sun Bear Concerts "a monumental record of Jarrett's work at a crucial stage of his development," and wrote: "there are amazingly few dead or dull patches and all five concerts seem related like a massive suite. The improvisation also seems much more organic than on the earlier live solo albums... There are more new colours and new rhythms... and the music tends to evolve rather than to chop and change. There is a clear sense of ebbing and flowing, and the marvellous dynamics, ranging from triple forte to pianissimo, also enhance this." [12]
All tracks are written by Keith Jarrett
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I a" | 25:13 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I b" | 19:44 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II a" | 17:03 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II b" | 18:31 |
All tracks are written by Keith Jarrett
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I a" | 19:58 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I b" | 19:27 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II a" | 21:29 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II b" | 9:40 |
All tracks are written by Keith Jarrett
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I a" | 17:30 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I b" | 18:50 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II a" | 20:02 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II b" | 24:19 |
All tracks are written by Keith Jarrett
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I a" | 24:34 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I b" | 16:07 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II a" | 22:08 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II b" | 21:58 |
All tracks are written by Keith Jarrett
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I a" | 22:07 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I b" | 19:16 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II a" | 26:24 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part II b" | 19:16 |
All tracks are written by Keith Jarrett
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I" | 43:55 |
| 2. | "Part II" | 34:05 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I" | 38:58 |
| 2. | "Part II" | 31:09 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I" | 35:36 |
| 2. | "Part II" | 39:56 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I" | 40:22 |
| 2. | "Part II" | 35:22 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Part I" | 40:59 |
| 2. | "Part II" | 33:55 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sapporo" | 10:56 |
| 2. | "Tokyo" | 8:23 |
| 3. | "Nagoya" | 4:03 |
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.
Solo Concerts: Bremen/Lausanne is a live solo triple album by jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Salle de Spectacles d'Epalinges in Lausanne, Switzerland and the Kleiner Sendesall in Bremen, Germany on March 20 and July 12, 1973, respectively and released on ECM November that same year—Jarrett's debut solo live album for the label.
Vienna Concert is a live solo album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded on July 13, 1991 at the Vienna State Opera in Vienna, Austria, and released by ECM September the following year.
Personal Mountains is a live album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded in Tokyo during his April 1979 tour in Japan, and released by ECM ten years later, in 1989. The quartet—Jarrett's "European Quartet"—features saxophonist Jan Garbarek and rhythm section Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen.
Staircase is a solo double album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded in May 1976 and released on ECM the following year.
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.
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.
Bye Bye Blackbird is a studio album by the Keith Jarrett Trio recorded on October 12, 1991 in tribute to Miles Davis, who had died two weeks earlier, and released on ECM in April 1993—the first and last studio recording by Jarrett's "Standards Trio", featuring rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette since their 1983 debut.
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.
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, commemorating the trios 20th anniversary.
Concerts is a live solo triple album of by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Festspielhaus in Bregenz, Austria on May 28, 1981 and the Herkulessaal in Munich, West Germany on June 2, 1981 and released on ECM September the following year.
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.
Invocations/The Moth and the Flame is a solo double album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded in October 1980 and November 1979 respectively and released on ECM in May 1981.
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.
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.
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.
