Invocations/The Moth and the Flame

by Keith Jarrett

Overview

If this schizophrenic double-disc set didn't throw Keith Jarrett's most devoted fans for a loop, nothing ever will. Here we have two radically disparate works involving different timbres, attacks, and mindsets, both within themselves and with each other. On "Invocations," a seven-movement suite, Jarrett returns to the massive pipe organ in Ottobeuren, Germany for a series of sometimes wildly contrasting episodes, ranging from peaceful contemplation to a fourth movement (subtitled "Shock, Scatter") that borders on the comical (people tend to forget that for all of his pretensions, Jarrett does have a sense of humor). Entranced by the abbey's long, long decay time, he brackets the organ movements with some solo meditations on the soprano sax which, pardon the witticism, echo those of Paul Horn. "The Moth and the Flame" finds Jarrett back in a studio with a grand piano, improvising musical still-lifes, rambling aimlessly, or doing his rollicking E-flat ostinato thing familiar from the solo concerts. About all that these two pieces share, with the exception of the E-flat movement from "Moth," is an aversion to a jazz pulse, so although there are plenty of rewarding passages here, casual Jarrett browsers are hereby warned. ~ Richard S. Ginell

Product Details

Release Date:	05/23/2000
Label:	Ecm / Universal
UPC:	0042282547323
Rank:	108116

Tracks

Disc 1

1. First (Solo Voice)
2. Second (Mirages, Realities)
3. Third (Power, Resolve)
4. Fourth (Shock, Scatter)
5. Fifth (Recognition)
6. Sixth (Celebration)
7. Seventh (Solo Voice)

Disc 2

8. Part I
9. Part II
10. Part III
11. Part IV
12. Part V

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Keith Jarrett   Primary Artist,Pipe Organ,Piano,Sax (Soprano)

Technical Credits

Keith Jarrett   Composer
Robert Bly   Liner Notes
Roberto Masotti   Photography
Gabor Attalai   Photography
Martin Wieland   Engineer
Manfred Eicher   Producer
Barbara Wojirsch   Design