Jarrett Alone, Singing Through the Overdubs
Keith Jarrett playing every instrument himself and singing his own folk-rock songs is a real oddity in his catalogue.
Restoration Ruin was recorded and released on Vortex, the Atlantic Records subsidiary, in 1968. The session setup is the strange part: Jarrett overdubbed himself on a range of instruments, so the record is essentially one person building arrangements layer by layer in the studio rather than a group playing together. The personnel list here is just Jarrett, on bongos among the many parts, and he also sings his own lyrics, which he almost never did elsewhere.
Musically, it sounds nothing like the jazz he became known for. The tracks lean toward folk and progressive rock, with some tracks sounding like sub-Dylan songwriting and others leaning toward the more baroque, arranged folk of late-1960s acts like Love and Tim Buckley. The pieces are short, some almost perfunctory, and the whole thing feels like an experiment in instrumental eclecticism. "Sioux City Sue New" came out as a 45 rpm single backed with "You're Fortunate," which tells you how the label hoped to place it.
As a place to start with Jarrett, this is not it. It is best understood as the first piece of an experimental stretch where he explored neither straight jazz nor classical music, and it is for committed fans who want to hear the odd corners of his catalogue. AllMusic reviewer Richie Unterberger gave it 2½ stars, and the Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings praised Jarrett's gifts while calling the pieces slight.
Who's playing
Keith Jarrettbongos
