| The Melody at Night, with You | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1999 [1] | |||
| Recorded | 1998 | |||
| Studio | Cavelight Studio New Jersey | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 55:13 | |||
| Label | ECM ECM 1675 | |||
| Producer | Manfred Eicher, Keith Jarrett | |||
| Keith Jarrett chronology | ||||
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The Melody at Night, with You is a solo album by American pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at his home studio in 1998 and released on ECM October the following year. [1]
It was recorded during his bout with chronic fatigue syndrome and was dedicated to Jarrett's second and then-wife, Rose Anne: "For Rose Anne, who heard the music, then gave it back to me." [2]
In an interview in Time magazine in November 1999, he explained:
I started taping it in December 1997, as a Christmas present for my wife. I'd just had my Hamburg Steinway overhauled and wanted to try it out, and I have my studio right next to the house, so if I woke up and had a half-decent day, I would turn on the tape recorder and play for a few minutes. I was too fatigued to do more. Then something started to click with the mike placement, the new action of the instrument,... I could play so soft,... and the internal dynamics of the melodies... of the songs... It was one of those little miracles that you have to be ready for, though part of it was that I just didn't have the energy to be clever. [3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [4] |
| DownBeat | [5] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz | [6] |
The album was commercially successful, becoming one of the best-selling jazz instrumental albums of the 2000s, and winning a number[ which? ] of awards. [7] "I Got It Bad (and That Ain't Good)" was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Instrumental Solo. [8]
The critical reception was more mixed, however, with some critics praising its intimacy, while others criticized its simplicity.
On the negative side, the AllMusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 2½ stars (out of 5) and states, "these performances lack color, contrast and life; and while you pull for Jarrett to summon the energy to make music again, the results are touching for a while but soon pall." [4]
On the positive side, it was ranked the No. 2 Jazz album in the DownBeat "Critics Poll 2000", [9] and Entertainment Weekly rated it an A. [10] [11] [12]
The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz awarded the album 4 stars, calling it "a record of fragile magnificence, a sequence of filigreed songs from a common musical past... It is a quite simply magnificent record, swinging in a way that Jarrett has rarely before been swinging... and sweetly melodic." [6] Writing for DownBeat, John Ephland commented: "the playing on this solo-piano recording is subdued, but does not lack for earnestness, passion or focus. The music is exquisite, unnerving and disarming, as the virtuoso bypasses flourish, instead choosing to speak plainly." [5]
| Chart (2024) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Japanese Digital Albums (Oricon) [13] | 30 |
| Japanese Hot Albums ( Billboard Japan ) [14] | 76 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
Somewhere Before is a live album by pianist Keith Jarrett recorded on August 30 and 31, 1968, at Shelly's Manne-Hole in Hollywood, California with his first trio, composed of Charlie Haden (bass) and Paul Motian (drums).
Ruta and Daitya is jazz album by pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette recorded in May 1971 and released on ECM in 1973—one of Jarrett's rare performances on electric keyboard.
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.
Dark Intervals is a live solo album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo on April 11, 1987 and released on ECM the following year.
Still Live is a live double album by the Keith Jarrett Trio recorded on July 13, 1986, at the Philharmonic Hall in Munich, Germany, and released on ECM in March 1988. Jarrett's Standards trio features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette.
The Cure is a live album by the Keith Jarrett Trio recorded at the Town Hall in New York City on April 21, 1990 and released on ECM October the following year. The trio—Jarrett's "Standards Trio"—features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette.
At the Deer Head Inn is a live album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Deer Head Inn jazz club on September 16, 1992 and released by ECM in April 1994. The trio features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Paul Motian. The remaining songs from the concert are scheduled to be released on November 2024 as The Old Country: More from Deer Head Inn.
Tokyo '96 is a live album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded at the Bunkamura Orchard Hall in Shibuya, Tokyo on March 30, 1996 and released on ECM in April 1998. The trio—Jarrett's "Standards Trio"—features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette.
Whisper Not is a live double-album by Keith Jarrett, recorded at the Palais des congrès de Paris on July 5, 1999 and released on ECM October the following year. The trio—Jarrett's "Standards Trio"—features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette.
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 in September of the following year.
Luminessence: Music for String Orchestra and Saxophone is an album composed by American pianist Keith Jarrett featuring saxophonist Jan Garbarek and the Südfunk-Sinfonieorchester conducted by Mladen Gutesha, recorded in April 1974 and released on ECM the following year—Jarrett does not perform on this album. The title is a portmanteau of "luminescence" and "essence".
In the Light is a double album of contemporary classical music composed by Keith Jarrett, recorded in February 1973 and released on ECM April the following year—his fourth release for the label.
G.I. Gurdjieff: Sacred Hymns is an album by pianist Keith Jarrett recorded March 1980 and released on ECM September that year, featuring solo piano performances of the sacred hymns of George Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann.
Book of Ways: The Feeling of Strings is a solo double album by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett recorded over four hours in July 1986 and released on ECM September the following year, comprising nineteen clavichord improvisations.
Keith Jarrett at the Blue Note: The Complete Recordings is a 6-CD live box set by American jazz pianist Keith Jarrett, compiling the six sets Jarrett's trio performed at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City over three nights in June 1994 and released by ECM in October the following year. The trio—Jarrett's "Standards Trio"—features rhythm section Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette.
