2001 · Album
My Foolish Heart
Recorded July 22, 2001, Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland · ECM · Released: October 2007
Six Years Later: Standards in Real Time
Jarrett, Peacock, and DeJohnette playing as if they've known each other forever—because they have.
My Foolish Heart documents Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio at Montreux in 2001, a group that had been working together long enough to move through a set without anyone needing to signal what comes next. Gary Peacock on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums are the kind of players who don't just follow a pianist; they push back, listen constantly, and make the music feel like a conversation between equals rather than a leader with accompaniment. The live setting matters here. You hear Jarrett's hands move across the keys, the slight hesitation before turning a phrase, the moments where he decides to explore instead of play it straight.
What makes this album worth seeking out is how the trio handles standards—"My Foolish Heart," "Autumn Leaves," pieces that have been played ten thousand times. They don't reinvent them. Instead, they play them as if discovering what's actually in there, what Jarrett's touch reveals about a melody you thought you knew. The double-album length means there's room for this approach to breathe. No one is rushing to fit songs into a compact set. DeJohnette's drumming is particularly sharp here; he's responsive without cluttering the space, pushing tempos subtly when needed.
In Jarrett's output, this sits in the specialist corner. It's not his entry point—that would be something more immediate, more obviously gripping. Not his peak either, which most serious listeners point to in his earlier ECM work. But if you're already familiar with Jarrett and want to hear him in a live setting with musicians he trusts completely, this is a solid choice. The six-year delay between recording and release suggests it wasn't considered urgent, and that's honest: it's a strong document of working musicians playing well, without claiming to be anything more.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Keith Jarrett
All 29 albums →
The musicians on this record
Amaryllis 2001
Gary Peacock
plays double bass here
plays double bass here
Parallel Realities 1978
Jack DeJohnette
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
