1983 · Album
Standards, Vol. 1
Recorded January 1983 · ECM · Produced by Manfred Eicher
Two Days in January, a Trio Forms
The first release by a trio that would define Jarrett's sound for decades.
In January 1983, Keith Jarrett sat down with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette for two days of recording that would yield three albums. Standards, Vol. 1 was the first to emerge, released later that year on ECM—the debut of what became known as the Standards Trio, a partnership that would last and deepen across decades.
The album charts Jarrett's approach to jazz standards with this specific rhythm section: Peacock's walking bass and DeJohnette's responsive, conversational drums create space for Jarrett's piano to move through melody and improvisation. These are recognizable tunes—songs the jazz repertoire has returned to again and again—but Jarrett's interpretations tend toward the interior, favoring legibility and lyricism over raw force. The playing is clean, the ensemble tight from the start.
This is not universally loved. Rolling Stone critic Steve Futterman found the record "merely competent," objecting to what he saw as surface-level playing and Jarrett's tendency to glide over tunes rather than excavate them. The album reached No. 14 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. Whether you hear refinement or slickness in Jarrett's touch often depends on what you want from a piano trio. Standards, Vol. 1 matters because it introduced a working group that became central to his identity—and because it caught something genuine about how this particular combination of musicians sounded when they first met on tape.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Keith Jarrett
All 29 albums →
The musicians on this record
Shift in the Wind 1980
Gary Peacock
plays double bass here
plays double bass here
Special Edition 1980
Jack DeJohnette
plays drums (drum set) here
plays drums (drum set) here
