1985 · Album
Standards, Vol. 2
Recorded June 1983 · ECM Records · Produced by Manfred Eicher
Jarrett Alone with the Great American Songbook
Jarrett strips these standards down to their emotional core, playing them like he's discovering them for the first time.
Standards, Vol. 2 finds Keith Jarrett in his element—solo piano, nothing between him and the music. If you've heard his first Standards album, you know what to expect: Jarrett taking the Great American Songbook seriously, treating familiar tunes as living things that deserve fresh interpretation. He's not being reverent or academic about it. He's just sitting down and playing what these songs mean to him in the moment.
What makes this volume distinctive is how varied his approach becomes across the session. Some tracks move quickly, almost conversationally, like he's thinking out loud. Others slow way down, and you hear him really inhabit the space around each note. Jarrett has a way of making even the most well-worn standard feel like he's wrestling with it—finding new angles, new harmonic possibilities. The recording is intimate; you're essentially in the room watching him work. There's no overdubbing, no safety net, just a pianist and a piano.
This sits somewhere in the middle of his solo career—not the beginning, but not late either. It's essential listening if you care about how jazz musicians approach this repertoire, though it's definitely more for people who appreciate Jarrett's approach to standards than those looking for a traditional vocal-led session. The value here is hearing a masterful pianist think through these songs without pretense, track by track.
Who's playing
Where next?
More by Keith Jarrett
All 29 albums →
The musicians on this record
Guamba 1987
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
